They say they have stopped the leak (which does not mean they know where it is). Yesterday there were two skimming vessels in the vicinity, but they appeared to be on the distant periphery of the slick, and the amount of oil that appeared to be within their booms was pitifully small compared to the size of the slick, which covered over 5 square nautical miles (20 square kilometers, or about 5,000 acres). Even if the average thickness of the visible oil were a mere 100 micron (0.1 millimeter, vastly smaller than the areas of emulsified oil that stretch across the area), the visible surface oil would represent about 500,000 gallons of oil. We haven't seen images like this since the BP disaster of 2010.
Our flight started in New Orleans, went directly to GC248 and the Brutus platform, then west about 30 nm to the location of the surface oil and the skimming vessels, and then back to New Orleans via the MC20 ("Taylor Energy" chronic oil leak that has been documented extensively by On Wings Of Care). There will be more articles on the MC20 slick and attempts to remove that oil in an article soon to be published.
(Put Gallery Here)
Our flight log follows:
** OWOC Flight Log 20160515: Shell Oil slick near GC248 and MC20 Taylor Energy **
Maps, photos, and videos are available by request...please CONTACT US for more information.
Waypoint numbers below refer to the GPS tracks available from OWOC.
Times are given in CDT.
Lat/lons are typically given in degrees and decimal minutes (except in the table below, where they are in decimal degrees)
Pilot, Crew, & Aircraft: Bonny L. Schumaker; Ian MacDonald, FSU; N4784E (“Bessie”)
Seas and weather: Seas <1 ft, winds southerly 10 kts
Sky & Visibility: Clear, visibility >6 sm
Flight time: 5.9 hours
Flight route: KNEW southward direct to GC248, then 30 nm west, then direct to MC20, KNEW.
Actual Flight: 529 nm within an area of 3,873 sq nm
Maps of our route showing the following waypoints identified during our flight, plus some relevant waypoints from previous flights, are in today’s article.
DESCRIPTION OF WAYPOINTS:
WPT |
LAT |
LON |
TIME |
DESCRIPTION |
1365 |
27.787 |
-91.304 |
|
Prior night’s reported location of “Deep Blue” skimming vessel. In this vicinity was the Helix Producer I drillship, flaring. |
1366 |
27.769 |
-91.362 |
|
Prior night’s location of “Mississippi” skimming vessel. Starting bout 7 nm South of this point, we began to see oil-coated bubbles, lots of pieces of emulsion. |
1367 |
29.109 |
-90.310 |
2016-05-15T15:29:11Z |
**OIL** rainbow, off Port Fourchon. Rainbow streamer approx 30’wide inside 50-75’ wide line of silvery sheen, approx 2 nm long (NW-SE). In proximity of many platforms. (NRC Report) |
1368 |
28.942 |
-90.330 |
2016-05-15T15:34:29Z |
**OIL**, silvery sheen, N-S line approx 75 ft wide by 1 nm long. |
1369 |
27.817 |
-91.517 |
2016-05-15T16:10:43Z |
This morning’s reported position of “Deep Blue” skimming vessel (fairly accurate) |
1370 |
27.900 |
-91.417 |
2016-05-15T16:11:17Z |
This morning's reported position of “Mississippi” skimming vessel (fairly accurate). NOTE: Both skimmers were to the periphery of the main slick and not near much of the heavy sheen or emulsion at all. I wonder if they need aerial spotters to help put them where it counts?? Or are they this pitifully ill-pitted to the job, seeing that they “lasso” so little when there is so much? |
1371 |
27.712 |
-90.791 |
2016-05-15T16:20:36Z |
GC159A platform, flaring. Supply Boat “Harvey Supporter” |
1372 |
27.707 |
-90.800 |
2016-05-15T16:20:53Z |
Natural seep lines in this vicinity of GC248, many such lines, cloudy streamers and extended sheens. |
1373 |
27.701 |
-90.839 |
2016-05-15T16:21:59Z |
More natural seep lines. |
1374 |
27.827 |
-91.506 |
2016-05-15T16:42:56Z |
Line of emulsion |
1375 |
27.864 |
-91.524 |
2016-05-15T16:44:12Z |
Turquoise vessel to the periphery of start of much larger, extended area of sheen and emulsion |
1376 |
27.889 |
-91.528 |
2016-05-15T16:47:56Z |
**OIL** everywhere, heavy emulsions, 2 skimming vessels at the periphery areas. One small pod of dolphins! Wished we could tell them which direction to go to avoid the oil, because there was barely one left! Heavy smell even when we climbed to 1000’ and 1200’ to keep from becoming nauseous. |
1377 |
28.065 |
-91.056 |
2016-05-15T17:32:39Z |
“H&P” rig. Bait ball adjacent. |
1378 |
28.801 |
-89.330 |
2016-05-15T18:30:08Z |
Enroute to MC20 (Taylor Energy), still 32 nm away, and here was a long line of sheen, silvery with some emulsion. N-S line. |
1379 |
28.835 |
-89.112 |
2016-05-15T18:41:00Z |
(Same as 1378 above). Rainbow sheen, about 10 nm long |
1380 |
28.888 |
-89.059 |
2016-05-15T18:43:22Z |
South Pass Block 49-A. |
GC248 |
27.795 |
-90.648 |
2016-05-13T19:12:37Z |
First target location (where Brutus platform is). |
TAYSOS |
28.937 |
-88.971 |
2016-05-08T19:04:14Z |
“Source” (surface) of Taylor slick, sharp line of rainbow with some oil-coated bubbles. |