Gulf of Mexico 'diving'

US scientists claim that most of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico has settled to the bottom rather than disappear like officials say.

Mexico's surface water is tinged with reddish-brown in the early stages of the oil spill disaster. (Photo: lumis.com).

AP quoted Samantha Joye, a University of Georgia scientist in the US, said the oil formed a layer of at least 5 centimeters thick in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The bodies of shrimp and many other animals form a layer beneath the oil layer. Joye saw oil on the bottom of the bay located 128 km from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

This finding shows that oil does not disappear as claimed by the US government and oil company BP.

Joye and colleagues claim that oil can cause immeasurable harm to rare and precious creatures in the Gulf of Mexico such as pipeworms, small crustaceans, and mollusks.

' I know I will find oil at the bottom of the bay, but I don't expect that much oil. The layers of oil I see are up to 5 cm thick. The bay bottom oil was just formed, because the carcasses were still warm , "Joye said.

The Deepwater Horizon rig of BP Group in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20. After about 756 million liters of oil spilled from the oil well below the rig, BP placed a cap into the well mouth. Since then the bay surface has become cleaner.

On August 4, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that most of the floating surface oil on the Gulf of Mexico has evaporated, decomposed or burned. The remaining oil in the bay is about 300 million liters. At the time of the report, several US officials said that some of the oil could settle to the bottom. Many scientists disagree with NOAA's report. They think this agency is too optimistic.

Sampling the Gulf of Mexico sludge is not easy. Scientists must use state-of-the-art machines with masses of several tons and shape of self-propelled devices on the moon. They will land on the bottom of the bay and use the pipes to suck mud.