Oil industry prepares as Gulf spill reaches loop current

The oil industry is holding its breath following the news that the spill in the Gulf of Mexico has entered the loop current.

Dr Bertrand Chapron of the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, Ifremer, says there is "visible proof" that oil has now entered the clockwise current, if only at the ocean's surface.

This puts it on a "conveyor belt" carrying water from the Gulf up the east cost of America towards Florida, with the first hard evidence of its entry into the current collected on May 18th.

"Now that oil has entered the loop current, it is likely to reach Florida within six days," he adds.

However, the oil could become difficult to track as the turbulent current mixes it with the water, removing the surface slick from the view of satellites.

The European Space Agency, whose satellites are tracking the slick, shared its concern earlier in the month that, if oil were to enter the loop current, it could be carried towards coral reefs in the Florida Keys.