Hi..I'm new here, but I'd like to ask a question: Does anyone know the pollution "status" of

[whathehell]

the ocean off the coast of the Southeast US after the Gulf Oil Spil?

I read that the waters were polluted up to the North Carolina coast.

I ask, because I grew up near the Atlantic ocean and absolutely LOVE it,

in every way, as does my spouse.

We love to swim, dive, snorkle, you name it.

This being the case, we were thinking of retiring in a couple of years

to Florida or some other Southern Coastal area,

but if the water is messed up due to pollutants, we won't.

I have been trying to research this myself, but haven't had much luck.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Well, I’d start here…

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11273708
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11273709

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/01/dauphin_island_fish_show_up_wi.html

[font face=Times, Serif][font size=5]Dauphin Island fish show up with lesions, BP spill link questioned[/font]

Published: Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 6:04 AM Updated: Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 9:24 AM
By Ben Raines, Press-Register

[font size=3]DAUPHIN ISLAND, Alabama -- More than half the fish caught Monday by Press-Register reporters in the surf off Dauphin Island had bloody red lesions on their bodies.

Fishing along an uninhabited portion of the barrier island during a trip to survey beaches for tarballs, the newspaper caught 21 fish, 14 of them with lesions. Of those fish, eight had lesions a quarter of an inch across or smaller, while 6 had much larger blemishes.

Most of the fish were whiting, a small species common to the surf zone throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Whiting grow to about 2 pounds and are ubiquitous in the surf year round, commonly found inside the first sand bar near breaking waves.

…

Scientists contacted by the newspaper noted that whiting spend their lives close to shore in the area most affected by the Gulf oil spill. Buried mats of oil persist in the surf zone along the Mississippi and Alabama coasts and tarballs remain common on the beach.

…[/font][/font]

[whathehell]

2. Thanks for the links!..n/t