Microbes called 'rescuers' in gulf spill

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say large amounts of oil from the BP gulf oil spill were quickly neutralized as microbes "came to the rescue" and consumed it.

Researchers at Alabama's Dauphin Island Sea Lab say the 200 million gallons of oil spilled into gulf waters quickly became a food source for bacteria, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Monday.

"The message we have is that a very large fraction of the oil had to have been consumed by microbes, which in turn are food for larger organisms," said William "Monty" Graham, senior marine scientist at the lab.

"For the most part, it looks like the microbes came to the rescue as the oil came toward shore, and turned it into food," he said.

Researchers found that in the weeks after oil approached the Alabama shoreline, zooplankton organisms in Gulf waters contained a greater percentage of a carbon isotope that indicated they had eaten smaller organisms that had been feasting on the oil.

While the study did not test for the presence of toxic materials in the zooplankton, Graham says he believes little, if any, toxic materials are moving up the food chain.

"When that data comes out, I doubt seriously that anybody will find toxic components of oil in the larger plankton," he said.