Discussion: the hidden impact of the oilspill - poison at depth

Several articles I've read lately have highlighted a problem which isn't really getting much media coverage, relative to the main aspects of the oil spill.

Surface dispersant being sprayed

Oceaonologists have been highlighting dead zones at depth in the Gulf of Mexico, and likening the situation to an 'enormous science experiment'. The effects of the dispersants used combined with the oil being released is at such great depth that's it's too dense to rise, and so stays trapped at depth thousands of metres below the surface, spreading in toxic, usually anoxic, plumes deadly to all in their path.

Unfortunately, the depth the oil is being released also happens to be one which contains the 'greatest diversity of species in the entire gulf region'. At spawning season. As a result, the food chain could 'suffer years of devastation', with sever impacts on almost all marine life in the region. Included is the Bluefin tuna, a species worryingly close to extinction. One of the dispersants they're using, in unprecedented quantities, is called Corexit 9527, which ruptures red blood cells and causes fish to bleed and is carcinogenic, causing mutation in microorganisms. This alone would probably be devastating. Forget what happens further down the foodchain, when they inevitably will get eaten by humans in some form....

It's these underwater plumes which are likely to have the most deadly and long lasting consequences on the area, with the largest plume some 22 miles long, 6 miles wide and just over 3000 feet deep. Their paths are controlled by the currents, and it's possible they'll rise again months in the future to cause a 'second wave of destruction'.