[Coral-List] oil strands viewed at NW point reef, Provo, Turks& Caicos

[Ruth Gettes]

Thought i would report on an unusual sighting.  Diving the barrier  
reef in Turks and Caicos, off Providenciales, 7/18/10, at 11 am, saw  
multiple  pendant -like filmy oil plumes, in the water column.  They  
were 3-4 inch long black oil cobweb/droplets, hanging in water column,  
viewed  at 15 feet.   I was sitting on the hangbar of the  Dive Provo  
boat, doing a safety stop, when i began noticing them.
is there a nearby oil leak somewhere in Turks and Caicos? This  seems  
a long way off from Deepwater Horizon.  What was odd about this oil/  
petroleum, was how it seemed to have been dispersant-infused-- it was  
impossible to pick up, or out.  You could draw your finger through it,  
and it broke up as if a flocculant.


ruthdive at mac.com
Ruth Gettes,MD
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Tampa, FL  33618
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