A lingering mystery of the Gulf oil spill is where the oil actually went. It seems now that the microbes in the water made a meal of it.
After the initial shock of last year’s Gulf oil disaster passed, it quickly became apparent that the oil had somehow disappeared–on the surface, at least. Dispersants helped break up some of the larger plumes, sure, but that doesn’t entirely explain why the surface oil slick in the Gulf seemed to disappear just three weeks after the disaster.
Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute think they have the answer: hungry bacterial microbes.
(READ the article in Fast Company)