>> here's a sedimentary record from an area 1,500 meters water depth adjacent to the deepwater horizon. >> reporter: using uv light on the sediment, the microscopic oil stands out easily. >> you can see it all spread out all over. there is no reflections. this is all speckled and when you turn off the light completely it looks like the southern sky. >> it looks like a constellation of stars. >> looks like a constellation of stars. >> reporter: most troubling to david hollander is evidence that the submerged oil is making its way through a region of the gulf of mexico known as the desoto canyon. the canyon stretches just east from the deepwater horizon spill site to an area south of panama city. so the concern is not only that you found the droplets of oil widespread but where you found it. >> yeah, it's coming now into niece areas that are critical marine protected areas, critical habitats for commercial and recreational fish.