Given the news hype, this image from NASA helped quantity the oil slick flow.
Quick "Cut & Paste" Highlights:
" ...This pair of sea surface temperature images shows how the warm waters of the Loop Current connect the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean (top image, May 1–8, 2010) and the dynamic northern margin of the Loop Current a week and a half later, on May 18 (bottom image). ...."
" ....Oil was very close to the Loop Current, whose warm waters appear in yellow near the bottom of the image. However, there is also an eddy of cooler water (purple) circulating counterclockwise at the top of the Loop Current. According to NOAA, “Some amount of any oil drawn into the Loop Current would likely remain in the eddy, heading to the northeast, and some would enter the main Loop Current, where it might eventually head to the Florida Strait.”
" .... Updated, May 20: In a web posting, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration confirmed that "a small portion of the oil slick has reached the Loop Current in the form of light to very light sheens.....”
Full Article - Click Here
References / Credits:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2010, May 18). Deepwater Horizon Incident, NOAA Situation Update 18 May 10. Accessed May 19, 2010.
Related Resources:
Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response, the official site of the Deepwater Horizon unified command.
Current information about the extent of the oil slick is available from the Office of Response and Restoration at the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration.
Information about the impact of the oil slick on wildlife is provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
More images of this event in Natural Hazards
NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Level 1 and Atmospheric Archive and Distribution System (LAADS) and Ocean Color Web. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
Instrument: Aqua - MODIS
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