• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Newly discovered species of bacteria Have Eaten Giant Gulf Oil Plume, New Study Says

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Ripclawe

Banned
eeek but awesome.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS...ed:+reuters/scienceNews+(News+/+US+/+Science)

A Manhattan-sized plume of oil spewed deep into the Gulf of Mexico by BP's broken Macondo well has been consumed by a newly discovered fast-eating species of microbes, scientists reported on Tuesday.

The micro-organisms were apparently stimulated by the massive oil spill that began in April, and they degraded the hydrocarbons so efficiently that the plume is now undetectable, said Terry Hazen of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

These so-called proteobacteria -- Hazen calls them "bugs" -- have adapted to the cold deep water where the big BP plume was observed and are able to biodegrade hydrocarbons much more quickly than expected, without significantly depleting oxygen as most known oil-depleting bacteria do.

Oxygen is essential to the survival of commercially important fish and shellfish; a seasonal low-oxygen "dead zone" forms most summers in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by farm chemical run-off that flows down the Mississippi River.

Hydrocarbons in the crude oil from the BP spill actually stimulated the new microbes' ability to degrade them in cold water, Hazen and his colleagues wrote in research published on Tuesday in the journal Science.

In part, Hazen said, this is because these new "bugs" have adjusted over millions of years to seek out any petroleum they can find at the depths where they live, which coincides with the depth of the previously observed plume, roughly 3000 feet. At that depth, water temperature is approximately 41 degrees F (5 degrees C).

FEASTING ON HYDROCARBONS

Long before humans drilled for oil, natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico have put out the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez spill each year, Hazen said.

Another factor was the consistency of the oil that came from the Macondo wellhead: light sweet Louisiana crude, an easily digestible substance for bacteria, and it was dispersed into tiny droplets, which also makes it more biodegradable.

These latest findings may initially seem to be at odds with a study published last Thursday in Science by researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which confirmed the existence of the oil plume and said micro-organisms did not seem to be biodegrading it very quickly.

However, Hazen and Rich Camilli of Woods Hole both said on Tuesday that the studies complement each other.

The Woods Hole team used an autonomous robot submarine and a mass spectrometer to detect the plume, but were forced to leave the area in late June, when Hurricane Alex threatened. At that time, they figured the plume was likely to remain for some time.

But that was before the well was capped in mid-July. Hazen said that within two weeks of the capping, the plume could not be detected, but there was a phenomenon called marine snow that indicated microbes had been feasting on hydrocarbons.

As of Tuesday, there was no sign of the plume, Hazen said.

That doesn't mean there is no oil left from the 4.9 million barrels of crude that spilled into the Gulf after the April 20 blowout at BP's Deepwater Horizon rig. The U.S. government estimated on August 4 that 50 percent of the BP oil is gone from the Gulf and the rest is rapidly degrading.
Click to expand...
 
B

BertramCooper

Banned
Fools. It is feeding on the pollution to help itself grow.

5556c0ff34e9206d2edd546d83435f30.jpg


We are doomed.
 
F

Foxy Fox 39

Banned
lol. There was this awesomely long conspiracy post about the leak being completely faked or stages or set in motion etc. And how after they would "mysteriously" stop the leak it would almost instantly vanish because of the gulfs bacteria.

IIRC so far everything the guy said is right. I wish I could find it.
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
ant1532 said:
if the first monster the world has to face is a giant oil blob im gunna be disappointed.
Click to expand...
But humans will try to kill it by lighting it on fire, and then we have a giant fire monster!
 
V

Verano

Reads Ace as Lace. May God have mercy on their soul
fuck yeah microbes!

now to reengineer them to eat cancer cells....
 
T

ToxicAdam

Member
Long before humans drilled for oil, natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico have put out the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez spill each year, Hazen said
Click to expand...


Be careful Hazen! If you inform GAF about this they will label you a monster that doesn't care about the environment or the human race!
 
B

Big Icarus

Member
Uh? This might be some tin foil hat theorizing, but does this story sound like it may be a little too convenient to be completely true to anyone else?

Considering that the oil disaster was set to destroy the local economy and significantly screw with the global economy then BP says "Hey, you know that huge disaster we caused and still can't fix? Guess what it just suddenly went away! That's right brand new magic microbes ate it away. Even though other scientific data says otherwise you should just trust us on this. Seriously just shut up about it."

And now were wiling to believe they aren't still screwing with us?
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
Verano said:
fuck yeah microbes!

now to reengineer them to eat cancer cells....
Click to expand...
Cancer doesn't work that way.

Even though other scientific data says otherwise you should just trust us on this. Seriously just shut up about it
Click to expand...
The thing is, it sounds like the other scientific data may just support this.

Also, within a few week I am sure their will be bunchs more Scientists coming to try and grab a some of these bacteria to test.

Then they will modify them to live on land, and it will turn out they eat plastic, and we will be DOOMED!
 
T

theinfinityissue

Member
They've been talking about these microbes for a little while now, but they weren't sure how much of an effect they would actually have. For one, I am severely disappointed in this clear deus ex machina.
 
T

Thunder Monkey

Banned
Foxy Fox 39 said:
lol. There was this awesomely long conspiracy post about the leak being completely faked or stages or set in motion etc. And how after they would "mysteriously" stop the leak it would almost instantly vanish because of the gulfs bacteria.

IIRC so far everything the guy said is right. I wish I could find it.
Click to expand...
No thanks.

Dealing with my schizophrenia is trying enough without throwing someone else paranoid delusions into the mix.
 
T

Teddman

Member
Sorry, don't buy it. The amount of "studies" that mainstream media and people at large just accept without question... It's getting ridiculous. To wit, from the same article:
These latest findings may initially seem to be at odds with a study published last Thursday in Science by researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which confirmed the existence of the oil plume and said micro-organisms did not seem to be biodegrading it very quickly.

However, Hazen and Rich Camilli of Woods Hole both said on Tuesday that the studies complement each other.
Click to expand...
:lol
Yeah, the studies aren't diametrically opposed or anything. They're just avoiding mutual embarassment.
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
theinfinityissue said:
They've been talking about these microbes for a little while now, but they weren't sure how much of an effect they would actually have. For one, I am severely disappointed in this clear deus ex machina.
Click to expand...
We lucked out, deal with it.

That, or they are lying to us D:
 
Freshmaker

Freshmaker

I am Korean.
theinfinityissue said:
They've been talking about these microbes for a little while now, but they weren't sure how much of an effect they would actually have. For one, I am severely disappointed in this clear deus ex machina.
Click to expand...

There's still the matter of byproducts and potential contamination going up the bacteria eating food chain.
 
T

ToxicAdam

Member
If this theory is to be believed (that the plume was degraded faster because of the sea level it was kept at), then you would have to say that using the dispersant was a wild success. Even offsetting any worries about it's toxicity it may have.
 
T

Teddman

Member
Drkirby said:
That, or they are lying to us D:
Click to expand...
Bingo. The people who carry out studies like these are under tremendous pressure to justify the millions in funding they receive. Producing a headline-grabbing finding is almost mandatory.

My point is, be more skeptical of stuff like this in general.
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
Long before humans drilled for oil, natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico have put out the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez spill each year, Hazen said.
Click to expand...

So mother nature is the biggest polluter of all...
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
Teddman said:
Bingo. The people who carry out studies like these are under tremendous pressure to justify the millions in funding they receive. Producing a headline-grabbing finding is almost mandatory.

My point is, be more skeptical of stuff like this in general.
Click to expand...
Well, this is the kind of thing other Scientists will go out and investigate. I mean, you announce a new oil eating bacteria that was able to get rid of supposedly 50% of the Oil spill, Biologists and Biotech companies are both going to want this thing now. Its something that people would think "I don't know how, but there must be a way to make a ton of money with"

So I would hope these people would be smart enough to come up with a reason that didn't get more Scientists to come and check things out if they were making up data.
 
J

jambo

Member
Evolution is a great film, haters be gone!

And I don't really find this that surprising, life has managed to survive on Earth for almost 4 billion years. Just like in Chernobyl, life finds a way.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
Oil is energy so of course some life form will find a way to exploit it.

But it is not some magical solution. Often these bacteria suck up oxygen causing a nasty dead zone for all other life.

Edit: Ah . . . these are new & improved less oxygen bacteria. Nice.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
Doesn't surprise me at all. After reading about how bacteria clean up lakes around volcanic eruptions and turn lifeless pools of death and poison into thriving ecosystems.

I have questions as to the speed and effectiveness of the bacteria in this instance, however as I said, this has happened before in nature so I don't doubt it is happening here as well.

Also, in the volcanic lakes cases, the bacteria was removed from the equation naturally without causing any lasting damage or harm.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Locked
Another Oil Spill Being Reported in the Gulf of Mexico
2 3
117
7K
rpmurphy replied
  • Locked
The Official Gulf Of Mexico Oil Disaster Thread
87 88 89 90 91
5K
233K
ToxicAdam replied
Top Bottom