Mysterious oil blobs on South Padre Island

Mysterious oil blobs on South Padre Island

news.yahoo.com

Gooey oil blobs as big as basketballs have been washing up on the sandy beaches of South Padre Island in Texas, officials said Thursday.

The Texas General Land Office said it doesn't know what is causing the tar-like blobs, but authorities were working to clean up the popular tourist destination. Beaches have not been closed.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Was there an oil spill south of the border? What else would cause up to basketball sized blobs of oil and tar? If not an oil spill or some form of pollution then it may be a shift deep in the gulf that may have released some oil? I'm not even sure if that is possible.

At least seven 55-gallon drums of oil have been removed since Wednesday morning

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/813a24cb39dd.jpg[/atsimg]

I wonder how much of it is still polluting the gulf?

-E-

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 23-7-2009 by MysterE]

Odd and for anyone vacationing there, pretty gross!

I wonder if some off shore drilling platform has sprung a huge leak that is, somehow, going undetected. That would be my first guess.

Obs out

Related to the Alaskan Blob???
www.abovetopsecret.com...

With the Jellyfish issue in Japan, and the Squid issue in California, this is looking pretty scary! Birds have been attacking people unprovoked in the UK.

And I have seen a lot of bee stings this summer?

I wonder if this has anything to do with the blobs seen off the coast of Alaska and the ones found in the sewers of Cameron Village, NC. Could we be in the midst of an alien invasion? Has anyone tested these sea blobs for life?

That area is close where two currents meet so a lot of stuff will wash up on the beach. Also, Mexico and the U.S. are allowed to dump waste in the gulf which will be washed up on Padre and S. Padre. It pisses Texans off immensely because it's not unusual for garbage to wash up on the beach.

We went to Padre Island National Seashore last month for the week of my birthday. In the brochure they actually warn about it. Sure enough, we saw one of the blue 55 gallon barrels of medical waste washed up on the beach. There are also pieces of old boats and other sea drifting items that wash ashore. You can also see a lot of oil rigs off the coast.

It's more likely the stuff came from the garbage being dumped in the Gulf or the oil rigs. It's a huge sore spot for Texan beach-goers. Added to the meeting of the currents, it is infuriating.

It's not unheard of to get tar, oil, medical waste, trash, shipwreck debris, dead sea life, seashells and other things on the beach.

I remember the Alaskan/Pacific Ocean occurrences!

I find myself wondering if these aren't the putrefying remains of the gigantic volume of plastics and refuse floating in the ocean. But that was only on the Pacific side. Now they're showing up in the Gulf?

This is not a good thing I suspect.

Perhaps it's all that 'extra' carbon from the atmosphere.., falling from the sky in clumps!

[edit on 23-7-2009 by Maxmars]

reply to post by AshleyD


Ya, last time I was in Galveston, it was pretty nasty, I used to go once a month!

Now I am in Florida's panhandle along the "Emerald Coast" or "Forgotten Coast" or "Redneck Riviera"!!! It is gorgeous! Better than Hawaii, Jamaica, Cancun, Cozumel, or any other beach in Florida! Best beaches I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few!

I have been to South Padre many times, and one of the main reasons we go there is because of its beautiful beaches. Glaveston and Corpus Christi are closer, and there small bits of tar are common, but I never saw anything on this scale, and definately not in SP.

-E-

The same thing is happening here in Perth Australia.

BAFFLED officials are hunting for the source of oil globules which has fouled several metropolitan beaches in Perth.
Authorities were last night unsure if the oil came from a passing ship or was a natural occurrence.

The oil appeared on beaches from Fremantle to Mullaloo in tar balls about 3mm in diameter. Even iconic Cottesloe Beach was affected.

www.news.com.au...

is it possible an underground well busted and or is leaking and that the water current are shifting it around...

OR

or could it be that there is pressure buildup in parts of the world and the oil is being squeezed out...

if thats the case then does this mean the earth is shifting or expanding or what

strange stuff indeed

Im thinking an Earthquake or some sort of geological shift has opened up something on the ocean floor.

I also remember hearing ages back something about a chemical/element in space.

And if this chemical ever came into contact with water, it caused an immediate reaction turning water into Mud/Sludge..

it was probably a old wives tale but still, made the ol 'creative juices in the brain start working!

It also could have been a WWII wreck in the Gulf that finally lost a tank. Navy Black isn't too far from tar in its usual state.

Yikers, I hope they figure it out soon. Perhaps the oceans are just giving us back the crap we've been feeding it. Wouldnt that be something if one day we went out to find everything we dumped in the ocean, back on the beaches? Bodies of water are known for cleansing themselves. Typically lakes will turn over where all the crap on the bottom will float to the top and then it usually flushes off with the next heavy rain, or settles back down. I dont know that we have seen the ocean do that....yet....can you imagine what that would be like?

All the theories so far have been quite excelent and well thought out. Each very possible giving food for thought.

I hope it doesn't get worse. I like to go there after school starts and the beaches are empty.... Prices drop like crazy..... Two of my wife's cousin have a business there that has recently changed locations and it is supposed to be a very nice place to go for drinks and entertainment.... Their last place was fabulous.