the whole delay on this operation is going to be on the order of five to seven days. but that s certainly better than 10 to 14 which we once feared. skimming operations also have been halted, at least temporarily, for this storm. but they ve slowed down as well because they ve done a really good job over the last eight, nine days with the help of the well cap. i ve had the opportunity to talk to some of these hard-working people trying to clean up the gulf of mexico. one was a u.s. coast guard cutter. on the deck of that skimmer, it s pretty slippery and dirty work. check it out. using the equivalent of a leaf blower to blow up these booms and get them filled up with air like balloons. how much of a mess does that look like? and it hasn t even started skimming yet. what s the process? first, you ve got to make sure that ain t tangled. lift it up off the deck and then
there s been machines out here cleaning the beach, trying to keep it clean for their peak tourism season. the sun is shining even as tropical storm bonnie continues its march across southern florida and the gulf of mexico and likely here by this time tomorrow or tomorrow night. so evacuations have begun for most of those vessels out there in the spill. as far as skimming, they are probably doing that today because seas are calm. a couple weeks ago i embedded with a coast guard cutter doing skimming, and it is a slippery, slick, messy time on deck. we are using the equivalent of a leaf blower to fill up the booms, fill them up with air like balloons. how much of a mess does that look like, and it hasn t even started skimming yet. so what s the process? first, you have to make sure that ain t tangled, lift it up