Where did all the oil go? It’s a question that will take at least hundreds of millions of dollars to answer.
Scientists are scrambling to the Gulf of Mexico to get a piece of the research-action pie, the Associated Press reports. But footing the bills are BP and the federal government. And neither will want to share all their findings with the public, given their legal positions.
Explanations for where the oil went vary. The official government explanation is that BP cleaned up most of it and mother nature took care of the rest. Others have said BP merely sunk much of the spill using toxic chemicals, and that it all lies on the sea floor, for now.
Whatever threats the BP spill continues to impose will take years to understand. And once scientists begin to understand what is happening, they may not be able to tell us what they know.
That’s science for you.
