ABC News Goes Underwater For Special Report On Gulf Oil Spill (VIDEO)

ABC News outfitted a diving team with special hazmat suits and sent them to the Gulf to see the damage the oil leak and subsequent cleanup are causing underwater. They found that the leaking oil is combining with the cleanup chemicals to form a toxic soup.

From ABC News:

For the first time since the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy over a month ago, "Good Morning America" Weather Anchor Sam Champion, along with Philippe Cousteau and a team of specially-trained divers, reported from under the water in the Gulf of Mexico to see first-hand what is happening beneath the surface. Wearing special hazmat dive suits, the team is the first to dive in - and document - the oil-laden waters off of the Louisiana coastline.

WATCH:

Comments

[scarfels]

05:32 PM on 05/27/2010

I had initially felt anger at the oil companies and their mind boggling greed at any expense, the Government for acting shocked, yet being aware of the potential for disaster in that it is inherently a dirty practice no matter how “technologically advanced” the procedure for sea bed drilling is, but that all quickly turned to shame. All that need be said is: Supply and Demand. We have a tendency to project, immediately, all the blame to the typical hierarchy, when in fact they were drilling not quench the demand for oil for anyone else but us- that is our oil- every single drop- corps and government act accordingly to the demands of the people, and if the people demand oil at ant cost well… story told- Supply and Demand. Gandhi said it best: “Be the change you want to see” I’m not excusing the Corps or the Government who are indeed demons to be reckoned with , but at some point we all have to recognize it for what it is: a very obvious GROUP EFFORT.

[Harpseal60]

02:27 PM on 05/26/2010

This is just heart breaking. I hate to even think of the damage the oil spill is causing that we know nothing about. I pray the Top Kill procedure works!

[lapdogs]

11:32 AM on 05/26/2010

UNbelievable!!!!

[cache]

08:59 AM on 05/26/2010

When the long term costs of this catastrophe are weighed against the the benefits of the extracted oil, it will be clear that we have made a tragic mistake by allowing offshore drilling in the mistaken belief that the oil somehow belongs to us and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. The unique and beautiful gulf will never be the same, at least not in our lifetimes. What are the long term costs of this to fishing, tourism, and land value. The same is true of mountain top removal in West Virginia, and ground water pollution from natural gas drilling. What in the hell are we doing? I

[pinkibus]

07:58 AM on 05/26/2010

The best thing to do is quit driving but that would mean taking reponsibility for demanding cheap gas and driving fifty miles to work or driving for fun. Burning oil for anything that isn't vital is the cause of this. Stop blaming BP and start looking at yourself. Coal kills too but what the hey. You have to have an air conditioner running and that huge fridge etc. etc.

[thruseer]

07:50 AM on 05/26/2010

If the top-kill fails today, Obama should nationalize the leaking well-head and hire Shell, at BP's expense, to stop the leak and perform the cleanup. And stop any dispersants: they make the oil harder to clean up, as well as poisoning the ecosystem. BP is too clearly incompetent, greedy, and irresponsible to ever drill off US shores again (or anywhere else).
Also, the BP reimbursement for the damage they have done should be strictly enforced, and used to subsidize American development of wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, solar, ocean wave, and all green energy technologies.

[JePense]

07:33 AM on 05/26/2010

Former president of Dutch-owned Shell told Larry King that BP is going about everything wrong. He said supertankers should be in the gulf, suction up the oil the second it releases.

Jim Carville was on the same show (I KNOW, as Ferguson would say) and he said he heard all the supertankers are full of oil and waiting for the price of oil to go up before they unload.

Shell guy didn't dismiss that, instead, implied it was probably true.

[Ethics101]

08:52 PM on 05/26/2010

That is exactly what I think, the supertankers are full, offshore, dithering! until the price goes up again. Bigtime B$.

[Rosewren]

07:23 AM on 05/26/2010

Basically it seems all these animals are suffocating to death. How horrible.

[Pak Tam]

06:52 AM on 05/26/2010

Sick to my stomach.

[SiberianRat]

04:45 AM on 05/26/2010

Kudos to ABC. This is freakin horrifying. I can't believe that Americans are not out in the streets demanding action and justice for this. I knew America was becoming more apathetic, but if potentially ruining the coasts of several states, destroying fishing and tourism, and annihilating vast ecosystems won't get people out, I have little hope for us.

[techcafe]

03:57 AM on 05/26/2010

have a look at this...

The Big Picture - Oil reaches Louisiana shores:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/oil_reaches_louisiana_shores.html

[techcafe]

03:28 AM on 05/26/2010

A clause buried deep in the Clean Water Act may expose BP to civil fines that AREN'T LIMITED to any finite cap, unlike a $75 million limit on compensation for economic damages. The Act allows the government to seek civil penalties in court for every drop of oil that spills into U.S. navigable waters, including the area of BP's leaking well.

As a result, the U.S. government could seek to fine BP or others up to $4,300 for every barrel leaked into the U.S. Gulf, according to legal experts and official documents.

The threat of hefty fines underscores the importance of *quantifying how much oil* is pouring into the Gulf. BP 'estimated' a spill rate of 5,000 barrels per day, but other experts say the volume - and hence the fines - could be more than 10 times higher.

The basic fine, according to the act, is $1,100 per barrel spilled. But the penalty can rise to $4,300 a barrel if a federal court rules the spill resulted from gross negligence.

read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2514399520100525?type=marketsNews

[techcafe]

03:28 AM on 05/26/2010

now we know why BP mega-saturated the OIL with so much of that toxic dispersant. the 'volume' of oil is impossible to determine AFTER the slick has been broken-up and suspended (dispersed) in a toxic colloidal soup, forming giant floating plumes of dispersed-oil globules. what's worse, the dispersant itself is a toxic brew of petroleum distillates and detergents, ensuring a thorough poisoning of the Gulf. the dispersant was not used to protect our marine environment and coastline - BP it was used to 'scatter the evidence', if you will. oil 'slicks' are 'measurable', but massive plumes of 'dispersed' oil is not. thus... Clean Water Act is basically useless. we need to know *how many barrels* of oil, before we can tally up the fines. hah! good luck 'counting' all that oil... which is now marinating our wetlands and beaches as we speak. that's also why BP is hiding the true flow rate, they don't want us getting an accurate 'count' of the volume of oil coming out of the pipe - at up to $4,300 per barrel in civil fines against BP.

how CLEVER of you, BP!

[cincinnati]

03:49 AM on 05/26/2010

maybe I missed it on MSNBC, like Rachel or Ed, but I do not think they
have covered this part or aspect. They did not seem to explain
why BP was being so vague about the amount, thanks !

[dobberdoss]

02:44 AM on 05/26/2010

Sue BP for 3 trillion dollars! we need it and i believe a fair price for this destruction

[dewywilliam]

02:38 AM on 05/26/2010

We should thank you for giving such a wonderful blog. Your site
happens to be not only informative but also very imaginative too. We
find a limited number of experts who can think to write technical
articles that creatively. All of us are on the lookout for information
on something like this. I Myself have gone through several blogs to
build up on knowledge about this.We look forward to the next posts !!

Have any Question

[BeAfraiduall]

02:03 AM on 05/26/2010

When the oil is sprayed with those chemicals, it can't be photographed! Out of sight out of mind.