The Daily Glob

"'Shadow' of Oil Spill Seen in Gulf of Mexico Plankton"

"It is possible to trace oil from the BP spill as it moved through the first several levels of the Gulf’s food chain, starting with the microbes that broke the oil down, according to a scientific paper released today.

That paper, 'Oil carbon entered the coastal planktonic food web during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,' suggests that a faint 'shadow' of the oil can be seen in the Gulf’s smallest creatures — plankton and copepods. Those tiny animals ate the microbes that ate the oil.

What’s present in the creatures is not oil. Instead, it is a unique form of carbon typically associated with oil and not otherwise seen in the Gulf creatures, researchers found. Carbon is the primary building block of all life, so it is present in bacteria, copepods, fish and all other creatures."

Ben Raines reports for the Mobile Press-Register November 8, 2010.

"Panel: Gov't Blocked Worst-Case Oil Spill Figures"

"The White House blocked efforts by federal scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could have been, according to a panel appointed by President Barack Obama to investigate the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

In documents released Wednesday, the national oil spill commission's staff reveals that in late April or early May the White House budget office denied a request from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make public the worst-case discharge from the blown-out well. The Unified Command — the government team in charge of the spill response — also was discussing the possibility of making the numbers public, the report says, citing interviews with government officials.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Dina Cappiello reports for the Associated Press October 6, 2010.

SEE ALSO:

"Report Slams Administration for Underestimating Gulf Spill" (New York Times)

"White House Blocked BP Oil Spill Estimates: Panel" (Reuters)

"Spill Commission Report Details Failures of Administration's 'Oil
Budget'" (Washington Independent)

"'Not an Incidental Public Relations Problem'" (Mother Jones)

"White House Suppressed Oil-Flow Estimates, Federal Commission
Reports" (NPR)

"Oil Still Washing up on Panhandle Beaches"

"Pensacola Beach, Florida -- The search for underwater oil in local waterways is over, and preliminary results show no recoverable oil was found, Coast Guard officials said Wednesday. But that doesn't mean there are no tar balls still washing up on the beaches of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. And it doesn't mean oil in tiny particles is not present.

"Gulf May Avoid Direst Predictions After Oil Spill"

"How much damage resulted from almost five million barrels of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico is still being toted up in laboratories and government offices."

Questions on Covering Plume and Microbe Science

The recent rash of stories about (a) a 22-mile long underwater plume of dispersed oil, or (b) a newly discovered microbe that had eaten the plume entirely raises questions not only about the research but also about the way it has been covered. Can both be true simultaneously?

Three sources that may help put the stories in perspective are the Diane Rehm show, the MIT Science Journalism Tracker, and Science News.

Today's Diane Rehm show directly examines the apparent contradiction between the two studies -- a contradiction not directly addressed by much of the journalism in recent days. She interviews both principal investigators and discusses the issues with a diverse panel. The show is still on as the Glob posts, but can be streamed and downloaded from the Rehm site.

MIT's Boyce Rensberger at the Science Tracker reviews a wide range of the stories on both studies. He mentions a fact that few news media mentioned -- that the oil-eating-microbes-made-it-vanish study was funded by BP. And he asks whether funding sources shouldn't ALWAYS be part of a science story.

Still more perspective is added by Janet Raloff's Aug. 25 piece in Science News. Raloff reminds us that ships are still gathering data about this dynamic ocean process and cautions against a "rush to judgment." The story is evidence that critical thinking and actual subject knowledge still have important roles to play in news media coverage of science.

Tell your editor and publisher.

"New Microbe Discovered Eating Gulf Oil Spill"

"A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe is suddenly flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico. In a new report released on Tuesday scientists say they discovered the microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf."

"White House, Critics Reach Stalemate in Dispute Over Oil Budget in Gulf"

"Neither the White House nor critics of an Obama administration report is crying uncle in a dispute over a government report suggesting that three-fourths of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico is 'gone.' After being blasted by lawmakers, scientists and environmentalists in recent weeks, the administration is standing behind its claims that all but 26 percent of the oil is accounted for, despite widespread criticism that such a claim paints too rosy a picture of the situation in the Gulf." Katie Howell reports for Greenwire August 23, 2010.

"NOAA Claims Scientists Reviewed Controversial Report; The Scientists Say Otherwise"

NOAA said the Aug. 4 report claiming 3/4 of the oil BP spilled in the Gulf was gone had been peer-reviewed. The scientists say it was not.

"Top Democrat Criticizes U.S. Oil Spill Report"

"White House claims that the worst of the BP oil spill  was over were undermined [Thursday] when a senior government scientist said three-quarters of the oil was still in the Gulf environment and a research study detected a 22-mile plume of oil in the ocean depths.

Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) departed from an official report from two weeks ago which suggested the majority of the oil had been captured or broken down.

'I would say most of that is still in the environment,' Lehr, the lead author of the report, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee."

Suzanne Goldenberg reports for the UK Guardian August 19, 2010.

SEE ALSO:

"Markey Says Report That Most Oil Is Gone Has Led To 'False Confidence'" (Froomkin/Huffington Post)

"Ummm, About That Disappearing Oil?" (Mother Jones)

"White House Slammed for Rosy Gulf View" (Politico)

"Academic Scientists Say Oil From Gulf Spill Is Not Going Away Quickly" (Washington Post)

"Top Democrat Criticizes U.S. Oil Spill Report" (Wall St. Journal)

"Scientists Say Gulf Oil To Linger, Administration's Estimates Rosy" (McClatchy/Miami Herald)

"Rep. Markey Challenges U.S. Claims About Gulf Spill" (NPR)

"Gulf Oil Spill: Most of the Oil Remains" (Greenspace/L.A. Times)

"Major Study Proves Oil Plume That's Not Going Away"

"A 22-mile-long invisible mist of oil is meandering far below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, where it will probably loiter for months or more, scientists reported Thursday in the first conclusive evidence of an underwater plume from the BP spill.