If you believed the BP-fuelled media spin, you'd think the Gulf of Mexico spill was all cleaned up.
Not so. According to a report today from scientists from the University of Georgia, up to 80 per cent of the oil which leaked from the Deepwater Horizon disaster is still out there.
In the words of Professor Charles Hopkinson, one of the report's lead researchers, "one major misconception is that oil that has dissolved into water is gone and, therefore, harmless". He continued: "The oil is still out there, and it will likely take years to completely degrade. We are still far from a complete understanding of what its impacts are."
Despite the Gulf of Mexico spill being the biggest in history, two weeks ago we heard triumphant calls from BP and the US government that the spilt oil was largely gone. Obama said that "the long battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is finally close to coming to an end". Three-quarters of the oil had apparently been cleaned up, captured, burned off or evaporated.
So why the discrepancy between the figures?
Well, basically the government equated dissolved and dispersed oil as disappeared oil. But this could be a mistake. As the Georgia scientists point out, "dispersed and dissolved forms [of oil] can be highly toxic" and bring serious risks. Worryingly, they also note that much of the dissolved oil can't have evaporated since it's nowhere near the surface, but instead trapped in deep water.
So while BP's spin machine may have persuaded many that the oil has gone, the evidence shows that may not be the case. So where is it?
Step up Greenpeace. This week our colleagues in the US have taken one of our ships, the Arctic Sunrise, to investigate the Gulf spill. By hosting scientists from different universities and institutes, they aim to "begin to try and answer the question on everyone's minds - where is the oil?" says Paul Horsman, the campaign director of TckTckTck (and veteran Greenpeace campaigner) who is currently onboard.
The answer today from the Georgia scientists is pretty conclusive: the oil is still out there.
