Beach goers and resort guests to the Gulf coast aren't the only ones impacted by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill that now stretches more than 500 miles along the coast of the southern U.S. Divers who enjoy exploring the Gulf of Mexico's wooden shipwrecks and artificial reefs also are seeing their summer ruined by BP.
The most famous of the Gulf's artificial reefs is the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany just off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. The carrier, sunk in 2006, is a favorite among divers but experts now fear it is threatened by the oil spill that began off the coast of Louisiana more than two months ago and has been moving eastward ever since. That stretch of the Gulf is filled with shipwrecks, reefs, fauna, as well as wildlife, that might not ever be the same.
In the meantime, tar balls believed from the spill have reached Texas shores.
"Any Texas shores impacted by the Deepwater spill will be cleaned up quickly and BP will be picking up the tab," Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said in a news release.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, about five gallons of tar balls were found this past Saturday on the Bolivar Peninsula, northeast of Galveston, and two gallons were found Sunday on the peninsula and Galveston Island.
Comments