Gulf Oil Spill - Impact On Florida Beaches

Throughout the gulf beaches and beyond... whether residents, visitors, potential home buyers or even vacationers planning their next trip... the Mississippi Canyon 252 Oil Spill incident is playing havoc in the Gulf of Mexico! No one knows how long it will take to completely stop the leak or what the final impact will be. Although other attempts are being made every day to stop or contain the spill, at the very least a second well is currently being drilled to move the oil over to it. The completion of that well is scheduled in August.

I have found one website very thorough in its information and maps of projected areas of concern are updated daily. Deepwater Horizon Response. Under the News/Info tab, go to Maps to find the projected track both near the shoreline and offshore.

If there is any silver lining for those of us on the west coast of Florida in the Tampa Bay area, the gulf stream appears to be working in our favor to keep any contamination away from us. The warm water of the gulf and sunshine does aid in breaking down some of the oil sheen. And yesterday, the NOAA announced changes to the fishing closed area that took effect at 6 p.m. Eastern, Friday. The changes include the opening of more than 16,000 square miles of water off the Florida coast, where oil had been projected to reach but was never observed. Approximately 2,200 square miles near the Florida panhandle are added to the closure. The closed area will now be about 32 percent of federal Gulf waters, down from 37 percent. This is good news.