Monday, May 10, 2010

Spilltracker - Show Us What's Happening On Your Beach

In partnership with Surfrider and Ocean Conservancy, SkyTruth has launched an interactive website, the Gulf Oil Spill Tracker, that lets Gulf-area residents document what's happening to their coast. Anyone can search the site, using an interactive map, to find reports that others have submitted. Reports can include text descriptions, photos, and links to video and news articles. Anyone can submit their own report by clicking on the map to indicate the location, and uploading their own photos and info:

We intend to use this to document pre-spill and post-spill conditions, and to give cleanup volunteers a way to show the world the great work they're doing. The more people who participate, the better, so please send this link to your Gulf-area friends, members, and other organizations!
Posted by John at 4:07 PM
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11 comments:

  1. at about what psi at the point of the leak??
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  2. Today I heard that they are putting massive amounts of dispersants directly into the well head. Are they using these toxins in such huge amounts to keep us from seeing the true impact of this spill in the satellite photos?
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  3. Isn't this the same thing being done by the LA Bucket Brigade (http://oilspill.labucketbrigade.org/)? Still a great effort.
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  4. Hi John,

    Thank you for keeping this blog up to date. I cannot believe the lack of coverage on this disaster and the coverage I do find mitigates it to a minor incident. It's tragic and downright frightening! It's folks like you that make me think there is hope.

    Cheers,
    Bret
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  5. Daniel - the leak is in water about 5,000 feet deep. You can figure out psi from that.
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  6. Environmentalist - I assume they are trying everything they can to minimize the damage and get some control on this.
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  7. Eric - yes, the Bucket Brigade launched a very similar site. Great minds think alike - we must have been working on this at the same time. So feel free to use whichever one you prefer!
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  8. Bret - thanks for the encouragement. The media coverage of this spill has been much better than the similar blowout and spill that occurred off Australia last year.
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  9. So glad I found this site!!!
    Getting a lot of requests for footage of the wellhead leak at the BOP cant find any!
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  10. http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/images/original_plume_1.jpg

    That looks like multiple fire hoses blasting (each about 3 gallons per second), so your leakage calculations could be correct. 15 gallons per second would be about 30000 barrels or 1.25 gallons per day.
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  11. John, I think what Danny was asking is for a better understanding of how it's coming out of the pipe. How does it compare to putting your thumb over a hose to spray your lawn, not what's the pressure of the water 5000 feet down. The 'offical' numbers put it at just under two and a half gallons per second, both leaks combined. I keep imagining gallon milk jugs flying out of it and if it's that wide, the numbers don't make sense to me. Clarification anyone? Also, are there any pictures of the blowout preventer so we can see how the pipe comes out of it, or a picture of one like the one in this spill so we have some idea what the whole thing looks like?
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