Page 7 - Surface Oil News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

But right now we're not seeing many targets for our skimming fleet of 780 skimmers. >> you realize when you say that, it's so hard for people to believe that this spill was so enormous and yet you are having trouble finding the oil to skim it? >> well, it's not for lack of trying. we have had 50 aircraft saturating this very location where satellites indicate there could be oil sheen in the area. and so we're going to look just like we would doing search and rescue to see where any possible target pocket of oil might be over this area. >> reporter: remarkably, the coast guard says surface oil ...

It, and it evaporates. that's part of the natural process that's been aiding them all along. so now that they don't have new oil making the slick bigger every day, those natural processes are actually working for them, and having a tangible effect here. >> all right. you know, i can almost hear the e-mails as i ask this question, because i know we don't know the long-term disaster and the effects of this -- of this event. but i will tell you, a lot of people will hear what the admiral said here, that the oil is breaking down very quickly, and now that the flow has been shut off, and will be wo...

People to believe, that you can't find the oil for the skimming? >> satellite indicates there could be oil stains in the area, so we'll look just like we would doing search and rescue to see where any possible targeted pocket of oil might be over this area. >> one of the most remarkable things i heard today, don, was the fact that there's so little oil out there now on the surface that they think we might see this surface oil gone in a matter of weeks. and that is from the cleanup efforts and from the natural spreading around of the oil that's been going on out there. >> boy, wouldn't that be ...

But as the woman down in south florida said, it could be a very big rainmaker. >> they are used to that down there. >> and they need the rain there. >> and how it affects the gulf coast. >> that's the problem. >> and there's an area where it could help the oil spill, correct? could below the oil and help break it up and push it out? >> sure, the surface oil. but yesterday or the day before they only collected like 50 barrels of oil because they said all the other oil has been picked up? is that possible? >> i don't think it's possible and i thought they were pulling the skimmers off yesterday....

Horizon site in the gulf of mexico, pilots began spotting oil miles offshore. the closer they got to the damaged well, the more oil they saw. >> i didn't see any until we were probably about 30 or 40 miles offshore, and then we started seeing some of the stuff, the emulsified below the water, and now the closer we get, the more surface oil that we've seen. >> reporter: even with the well capped now, millions of gallons of oil are still in the water, drifting with the winds and currents. in some areas there are long streaks of oil. elsewhere there are miles and miles of sheen. >> it's starting ...