sediments or water column is not an unusual thing. >> reporter: how do you come to believe that the oil you found is from the gulf oil spill in the bp situation? >> we have samples that were collected in may, from many of the same sites we're sampling right now. in may this layer was not present. it was not here. this layer has developed over the past four months. >> reporter: joy concedes they won't know for sure that this oil is from the deepwater horizon spill until they chemically fingerprint it back at their labs. she discovered dead organize mitchells underneath the oily sediment. what kind of organisms are exposed to this oily. >> anything that for rages to the bottom. any fish, any invertebrate, squid, octopus, anything that is going to the bottom looking for food is going to be exposed. >> reporter: then, joy says,