Actually, “your” response is weak, and doesn’t address my point. The low solubility of methane in seawater does not preclude the dissolution of quite large total amounts, even at low levels of solubility. The Gulf is a big place. That amount may indeed be a very small fraction of the total methane emitted, but plenty large enough to cause a bacterial bloom. After all, the oceanographers MEASURED a dissolved methane level that was quite high compared to normal backgrounds. That is now gone. Where did it go?? I assume that those folks are sufficiently learned to know what the standard “decay curve” of methane concentration is with time in the absence of bacteria, as those are WELL known simple physical processes (per my linked paper). They are saying that the methane disappeared much more quickly than expected. At this point, I don’t see any reason to doubt them, and I do see reason to doubt you.
Remind me not to hire you ;-)
Hit POST too fast when the phone rang. Hang on. day job issues.