AP Journalist Takes a Dive in the Oily Gulf

Intrepid AP journalist Rich Matthews took an oily dip into the Gulf and found it to be quite a scary experience. Five seconds into the dive his mask was smeared with oil. Below the surface, he could see only oil; there was nothing alive under the slick. It was dark and filled with grapefruit-size blobs. He was alone—none of the other divers would get into the water without Hazmat suits—but he was determined to take videos for people to see the spill in ways they have never seen before.

Before he was allowed back into the boat he had to go through a half-hour cleaning process. The oil is as thick as cake batter and so sticky you have to scrape it off, he writes, and then scrub with Dawn. Failing to clean the bottom of his feet, he slipped back into the water and had to do it all over again. Check out his photos in the image box, and read the full article here.
(More Gulf of Mexico stories.)