DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL UPDATES

On Tuesday, April 20, 2010 a floating oil drilling platform owned by Transocean Ltd. under contract to BP named the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana.  BP, the United States Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior are the lead responders to the oil spill.

To date, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has not in any way affected Siesta Key or the surrounding areas.  Beaches, sport fishing and commercial fishing remain fully available.

The Pensacola area, some 360 miles from Siesta Key, has experienced occurrences of tar balls as a result of the Deepwater Horizon spill.  That is the affected land area that is closest to Siesta Key. The Sarasota area has had NO effects from the spill.  Our beautiful, award winning beaches remain pristine, the fish are biting, our restaurants are well stocked with delectable fresh fish and seafood and the living's easy!  So come visit! Check out our member businesses offering no-risk reservations below.

NO-RISK RESERVATIONS

The following Siesta Key Chamber members have informed us that they are currently offering no-risk reservation policies under which their guests/clients will receive a full refund of their unused prepayments and/or deposits should the guest/client elect to depart prior to their scheduled departure date as a result of any of Siesta Key's beaches being closed for swimming by local health officials as a consequence of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. All prepayment funds or deposits will be subject to the member's standard policies except for cancellation penalties or early departure penalties (i.e. damage to units, etc.).  Please contact the businesses at the numbers indicated, and confirm their policy prior to booking.

DEEPWATER HORIZON BLOG

August 4, 2010
BP announced today that the Deepwater Horizon well appears to have reached a static condition -- a significant milestone.  The well pressure is now being controlled by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling mud, which is the desired outcome of the static kill procedure carried out yesterday (US Central time).  The well remains sealed.  No trace of leaked oil from this well, including tar balls or tar paddies, has ever appeared on Siesta Key or anywhere near Sarasota, and area waters remain unaffected.

July 6, 2010
In a statement dated July 3, 2010, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) noted, “Right now, three things are contributing to a very low probability of oil threatening Florida Peninsula shorelines in the short term: no oil has been observed in the area near the loop current, the northern part of the loop current has 'pinched off' into a clockwise rotating eddy, and the present forecast for winds, currents and oil transport do not indicate any oil moving into the loop current area.”

June 28, 2010

June 22 was the perfect tarpon day off Siesta Key - calm, clean water and tarpon everywhere!  Aledia Tush, owner of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, and her friend Melissa Littlewood each hooked up on their first cast.  Melissa's fish decided to head off shore. Three hours and twenty minutes later it broke off, but she wasn't disappointed. photo courtesy of Captain Ed Hurst of CB's Saltwater Outfitters

June 23, 2010

Wallace Bartlett and son Tommy proudly display a 23-inch trout caught by Tommy in Sarasota Bay on June 20.  The family stayed on Siesta Key during their visit to the area. photo courtesy of Scott Green of A Rodbender Fishing Charters

June 16, 2010
Click here to view a brief video from the June 11 evening news on Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA regarding the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce members' no-risk guarantees.

June 14, 2010
The Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center has reported that "Surface and aerial based monitoring of waters off the west coast of Florida south of the panhandle and the Florida Keys continues to show that the risk remains low for pollution threats to the Florida Peninsula from the Deep Water Horizon/ BP oil spill in the near-future."

June 13, 2010

Aledia Tush of CB's Saltwater Outfitters provided the photo to the left and the following, courtesy of a Sarasota-area charter fishing operator: "The week of June 6 was a week of excellent tarpon fishing off the beaches near Siesta Key, FL. We had picture perfect weather for tarpon fishing, hot and humid. [One passenger] put seven tarpon in the air and landed one just north of Point of Rocks off Siesta Key. He also caught a beautiful cobia that he took home for dinner. [Another] put two tarpon in the air and landed one close to Longboat Key Pass. [Another from] Trenton NJ, hooked and boated three tarpon near Crescent Beach. [Another from] Youngstown OH, got to see two tarpon in the air but didn't put one to the boat while fly fishing with me near Lido Beach. [Two others from the] UK, landed one tarpon around one hundred and sixty pounds just south of Point of Rocks."

June 11, 2010
The following information was provided by Lee Mayfield, Region 6 Coordinator, Florida Division of Emergency Management, Ft. Myers, FL.

Based on a study of 194 floating probes released into the Northeast Gulf of Mexico during a 1-year study in the 1990s (see graphic below), the west coast of Florida from Tampa Bay southwards to the Everglades is at minimal risk of receiving oil from surface currents. There is a "forbidden zone" off the southwest Florida coast where the shape of the coast, bottom configuration, and prevailing winds all act to create upwelling and surface currents that tend to take water away from the coast. This study implies that the greatest risk of land impacts by surface oil caught in the Loop Current is along the ocean side of the Florida Keys, and along the coast of Southeast Florida from Miami to West Palm Beach. Eddies breaking away from the Gulf Stream would also likely bring oil to northwest Cuba, the western Bahamas, and the U.S. East Coast as far north as Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, though at lesser concentrations. Southwest Florida cannot rest entirely, though--the "forbidden zone" is only true for surface waters, and there is onshore flow below the surface. Since recent ship measurements have detected substantial plumes of oil beneath the surface, southwest Florida might be at risk if one of these plumes gets entrained into the Loop Current. These subsurface plumes were also detected by current probes launched into the oil spill on May 8 by one of NOAA's hurricane hunter aircraft, according to one scientist I spoke to at last week's AMS hurricane conference. There are plans for the Hurricane Hunters to go out again tomorrow and drop more probes into the spill to attempt to get a better handle on where the oil is and where the currents are taking it.

May 28, 2010
Coastal expert Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, Director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research, named Siesta Beach the number two beach in America.  Shortly after releasing the list, the Associated press asked "Dr. Beach" about the oil spill and, specifically, how it would  impact Siesta Key.  The Associated Press quoted Leatherman as saying "there's very low probability the oil will get to southwest Florida."

May 20, 2010
Sarasota County's beaches continue to be untouched by the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill.  It has also been confirmed that tar balls found on the shores of Key West were tested and found not to have been a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident.  Tar balls wash ashore periodically for different reasons, including natural oil seepage from the ocean floor.

HELPFUL LINKS

Florida Department of Environmental Protection response

Florida State Parks

Mote Marine - current beach conditions

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Official Deepwater Horizon Unified response

Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau

Sarasota County Government response

Sarasota County Parks and Recreation web cam at Siesta Key Beach - current beach conditions

Surf & Racquet Club web cam at Crescent Beach on Siesta Key - current beach conditions

CrystalClearFlorida.com - current beach conditions and frequently updated aerial views

Texas A&M Univ. Dept. of Oceanography - information on the Gulf of Mexico's loop current which protects Florida Gulf coast beaches