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　　Gulf Oil Is in the Loop Current, Experts Say

　　Satellite pictures show oil snared by an eddy.

　　Satellite pictures show the Gulf oil spill moving toward the Loop Current, which is illustrated at bottom.

　　Top and middle images courtesy MODIS/NASA; diagram courtesy FGBNMS/NOAA

　　Christine DellAmore

　　National Geographic News

　　Published May 18, 2010

　　Some oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is increasingly likely to be dragged into a strong current that hugs Floridas coasts, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said today.

　　But other experts say that the oil is already theresatellite images show oil caught up in one of the eddies, or powerful whorls, attached to the Loop Current, a high-speed stream that pulses north into the Gulf of Mexico and travels in a clockwise pattern toward Florida.

　　Images from the past few days show a big, wide tongue of oil reaching south from the main area of the spill, off the coast of Louisiana, said Nan Walker, director of Louisiana State Universitys Earth Scan Laboratory, in the School of the Coast and Environment.

　　Meanwhile, a particular eddy has intensified and expanded north in recent days. The images reveal that the eddy has snagged oil and pulled it southeastward 100 miles , which means the crude is now circulating inside the turbulent waters.

　　The oil has also reached the point where the eddy connects to the Loop Current, Walker said. That means the oil is traveling eastward alongside the main stream of the Loop Current, and its likely that it will continue flowing with the current to Florida, Walker said.

　　Mitchell Roffer, president of Roffers Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service in West Melbourne, Florida, has also been tracking the oil spill by satellite.

　　Several scientists from different organizations have seen the oil in the Loop Current via clear and dramatic satellite pictures, Roffer said.

　　Nowhere to Go But On the Beach

　　According to Roffer, the northeast portion of the Loop Current has been moving eastward, closer to Tampa, on Floridas western coast . That means if an eddy sweeps the oil into the main current, it has nowhere to go but on the beach, Roffer said.

　　Once in the Loop Current, oil can travel south and enter the Gulf Stream, a powerful ocean conveyor belt that carries warm water up the eastern seaboard.

　　Oil brought to Floridas east coast could then get pulled into inlets and harbors, where it would settle into the mangrove forests that are nurseries for many species of sea life, Roffer pointed out in early May.

　　On Monday the Coast Guard reported the discovery of 20 tar balls at Key Wests Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. The sticky balls of congealed oil are currently being analyzed to determine if they came from the Gulf spill.