A report by scientists aboard the Arctic Sunrise, including Texas A&M University researcher Ranier Amon, on Sept. 30 reported lower-than-normal oxygen levels in an area stretching 300 miles to the west of the wellhead. But the oxygen levels were not as low as would be expected if the oil had been fully dissolved, "suggesting that the oil has not 'disappeared as has been previously proposed by various sources," Mathies said.
I find this very confusing. It may be that the higher than expected oxygen levels mean the oil has not "disappeared" and the massive fish kills are the result of "normal" low (but not dissolved-oil low) oxygen. But this passage would seem to indicate that we can't simultaneously claim that the fish kills are normal and the Gulf is sufficiently oil-free for fishing again, right?
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