The USF study is not government funded.
I have worked next to those guys offshore as well as with scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory in Pinellas county and they are not slackers. And we do not see tar balls washing up on our coasts in W-SW Florida. Maybe in the Panhandle..I don't get to those Beach's often.
But it's best to wait and see what transpires...To be wrong about the possible damage and blindly go headlong into the same activities that caused this disaster without all the information in is simply foolish. Prudence is dictated.
I rest my case, counselor, I mean Captain.
Where do you think their grant money comes from??? There is a clique at USF that has been glooming and dooming ever since the spill happened.
Without concentration numbers, the posted article is meaningless. "...at a level toxic to marine live..." just doesn't cut it. WHAT marine life?? There is a very great diversity of marine life, that can be affected by different concentrations of oil. The highest number that I have seen for oil in such "plumes" is 5 ppm, which can possibly kill some larval species, but won't affect more mature individuals of the same species.