Fla. Tar Balls Not From Spill, but Oil Heading That Way

Loop Current will take it up the Florida coast in about a week
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 19, 2010 12:23 PM CDT
Oil Spill Hits 'Loop Current,' Heads for East Coast
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is seen clumped on roseau cane on the marshy shores of Garden Island Bay along the coast of Louisiana near Venice, Tuesday, May 18, 2010.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Good news: The tar balls found on the beaches of Florida are not a result of the Gulf oil spill, authorities have proven. Bad news: It's only a matter of days before the oil hits for real. The spill has reached the Loop Current, the Miami Herald reports, which will send it shooting into the Straights of Florida within seven to 10 days. And when it does, it'll probably wash up as ... tar balls.

From Florida, the oil could spread up the East Coast, according to the BBC, while the loop current ushers other oil to the pristine coral reefs of Cuba. Asked what could stop the oil's spread, a Coast Guard admiral replied, “It would take an act of God.” The worried Cuban government has contacted the US, and there have been “low, technical level” talks about the issue. (More Gulf oil spill stories.)

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