Gulf diving and the BP oil hemmorhage

[jnunn04]

First, if this has been asked, please point me to the correct thread. I did a search and didn't see this particular question asked.

Second, I dislike hearing the term "oil spill." It's not spilling, it's hemmoraging from the ocean floor.

Third, here's my question(s). I know the oil is creating havoc with dive charters, but can you dive in this stuff or is there anything to see? I know there are a few deep wrecks (the Big O comes to mind) - is that going to be affected? Will the oil in the water harm SCUBA gear?

Even if the conditions are less than perfect, for the ones of us that only get to dive in the ocean a couple of times a year - is it a possibility?

 

[TSandM]

Well, from the video that was posted a while back, it takes HOURS to decontaminate your gear if you get into the stuff. My guess is your regs would have to be serviced afterwards.

 

[Garrobo]

I figure that anyone who would look forward to diving in the oily water has a death wish.

 

[Mike Boswell]

I think you are asking some good questions, because inevitably some divers somewhere will be affected by the oil. The stuff is going to wind up in unpredictable places.

FWIW, the reports I have read say that it's messy and requires a lot of cleanup, but it does not pose a significant risk to human health. If it did, I would surely be dead, because I've been spilling motor oil on myself pretty regularly for more than fifty years.

Anyhow, if I were you I would plan my vacation somewhere where the oil isn't.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

There are plenty of places to dive with no oil if you have a boat. Every week it moves further south on the Florida coast and it will get worse but there are options if you have the right resources. I for one would not put my gear in that stuff. I'm not sure why anyone would want to subject themself to diving the spill, plenty of springs and other places to dive while this situation is ongoing.

 

[Guba]

I'm not an expert, but a few of my friends have extensive experience with diving in oil tainted water (professional divers). Their concensus is that the oil basically will not completely come out of most recreational gear. Wetsuits and BC's simply soak up a portion of the petroleum fractions, and almost no amount of soaking and soaping will remove them. In addition, there is a reason most of those guys dive on rigs and platforms in full-coverage gear. Simply put, crude oil is a combination of all the petroleum fractions, many of which are seriously damaging to exposed skin with prolonged contact. While it's not a guarantee that a person would be "burned" by the crude (just ask any land based roughneck), it could pose uncomfortable consequences. My friends' best advice was to seek other diving venues and stay out of the oil.

 

[k374]

well, I would definitely not dive in that water, I don't want to accidently ingest any oil no matter how little it is...

 

[ScubaFeenD]

well, I would definitely not dive in that water, I don't want to accidently ingest any oil no matter how little it is...

Just when you thought mask clears were a breeze

 

[Nemrod]

First, if this has been asked, please point me to the correct thread. I did a search and didn't see this particular question asked.

Second, I dislike hearing the term "oil spill." It's not spilling, it's hemmoraging from the ocean floor.

Third, here's my question(s). I know the oil is creating havoc with dive charters, but can you dive in this stuff or is there anything to see? I know there are a few deep wrecks (the Big O comes to mind) - is that going to be affected? Will the oil in the water harm SCUBA gear?

Even if the conditions are less than perfect, for the ones of us that only get to dive in the ocean a couple of times a year - is it a possibility?

Nobody wants to talk about it, threads keep getting removed from multiple forums, not just here. It is a collective denial. People go off the political deep end and so many people, jobs, economy are threatened it just brings no good to talk about it some feel.

The thing is, the relief well, well, this is not going to be an easy thing, it could easily be well into fall or winter if anything goes wrong. What could go wrong you ask, well, take a guess.

This is potentially an environmental killer event and each day brings that potential reality closer. Once the oil moves into an area there will be no more diving, no more fishing, no more boating, no more fish, no more anything but death.

A lot of the visible oil can be cleaned up once the well is stopped. The oil that is in the sand, beyond the beach, in the marshes, with time, it too will be removed mostly by natural forces, the effects will linger for years, possibly decades. If this oil gets into the loop currents, well, that is not good for the keys, hopefully, the material will be sufficiently weathered that it does not kill the reefs, if, if, it gets that far.

N

 

[jnunn04]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I was looking for (and mostly got) how the oil was going to affect diving and diving equipment. I think it's a "no brainer" that it has/is going to continue to affect the environment.