The oil slick off the Louisiana coast has reached the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico.
/ www.texaspelagics.com
The oil slick off the Louisiana coast has reached the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico. That means it could eventually reach the coast of South Carolina and the Grand Strand.
Thursday, along the Louisiana coast, a brown ooze began clinging to marsh grasses, as the oil finally reached shore. We asked Dr. Rick Peterson, who studies South Carolina coastal waters as a researcher at Coastal Carolina University, about the likelihood of the oil reaching our area.
He says, the oil slick is likely to enter the Gulf Stream and start heading north along the Florida coast. Could it impact South Carolina? Yes, but it would take what Peterson calls a perfect storm of factors. Peterson says South Carolina has a cold water current that runs close to shore and would protect us from oil in the Gulf Stream, which is 100 miles off our coast.
Our neighbor to the north isn't so lucky. "Due to the geography of North Carolina and how it sticks farthest eastward of this, it's actually much closer to the gulf stream than we are," Peterson said.
Now, Peterson warns, anything is still possible. Sometimes, circular gyres spin off from the Gulf Stream and one of those could bring the oil slick with it to our coast. but those are rare. "If I had a vacation planned for the Myrtle Beach area, I certainly wouldn't be cancelling it right now," Peterson said.
Peterson and one of his students are planning to go with other scientists on a research cruise next week, to study the oil slick's progress in the Gulf. They'll sample radon gas in the Gulf, to give them an idea of how much the water is saturated with oil. Though it's an ecological disaster, Peterson says the spill is also a once in a lifetime scientific opportunity. "People model these sort of things all the time and try to predict how these oils would move around but this is a chance to see it in practice."
What's the time scenario for the oil to reach the Carolina coast? Peterson says, that's impossible to say. It could be months, it could be never.
Authorities in both Carolinas said plans are in place to deal with the spill, if it makes it this far.
And Grand Strand tourism officials say they also have a plan ready to deal with any public relations fallout from the oil slick.
Officials at the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce say they couldn't buy enough advertising to counteract the national attention that might come with the spill.
But they know how to deal with negative publicity and have a disaster plan in place.
They say their policy is to get accurate and honest information out to visitors and residents. "We continue to send real time shots and live footage and utilize the beach cams and everything else to let people know that it's safe and we're out of harm's way," said Tina Pace, Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
A Gulf Coast tourism official was quoted as saying Myrtle Beach is using "guerilla marketing" to pull tourists away from the Gulf. But he now says he never used those words and has apologized to the Grand Strand.
Chamber officials here say they've never done any marketing to take advantage of the oil spill.
