Searching for the Plume

Science in a Time of Crisis Part 4: Searching for the Plume
Almost as soon as the spill began, speculation abounded about the fate of the oil. The slick on the surface was huge and spreading, but wasn’t big enough to account for all the oil gushing out of the broken wellhead. Since the source of the oil was more than a mile below the surface, it was reasonable to think that some—perhaps most—of it remained far below the surface, where it could threaten Gulf fisheries and deep-sea ecosystems. To learn more visit whoi.edu/deepwaterhorizon.