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So 18 days ago you smelled "oil" about 30miles off of Panacea?

Barhopr wrote:So 18 days ago you smelled "oil" about 30miles off of Panacea?

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Yes we could smell it 30 NM SSE off Panacea. Seemed odd to me too since it was supposed to be nearly 200 miles away. Couldn't ignore it though.

Double Naught wrote:

Barhopr wrote:So 18 days ago you smelled "oil" about 30miles off of Panacea?

smell.JPG

Yes we could smell it 30 NM SSE off Panacea. Seemed odd to me too since it was supposed to be nearly 200 miles away. Couldn't ignore it though.

Seems like as much as it's grown/spread in the last 18 days, if you smelled it 30 miles off Panacea that long ago we should all be smelling it throughout the big bend fishing area by now.

Sure sounds like you're sincere so I'm not doubting you smelled something. Sure it wasn't JT's tarballs?!
Rumor has it they've caused a strong reaction amongst those who've had the misfortune to smell them...

Double Naught wrote:I really haven't had a desire to post this unpopular info knowing there are people who would rather not know. Seeing someone accused of spreading lies has most definitely changed that. I am NOT an eco-terrorist. Sometimes the truth is unpleasant MD.

I didn't do that lightly, but I since I have been here at the Cape, I have asked several folks who live and work around the bay and the cape and not one person indicated any smell or sight of oil. If you spread an untruth about an areas with this problem, reservations start getting canceled and folks lively hoods get endangered. You might as well set off a bomb!

BTW, you say the smell wasn't like oil wells you have smelled before. Are you sure it was oil you were smelling? It is easy to take a little news and make an assumption. I have been offshore and had unusual smells when no oil was dumping. Stuff floats and rots on the surface all the time on the oceans giving off all manner of smells.

And remember, folks quickly concluded the tarballs in the keys were from this event, until they were found not to be.

BBG it may be a trivial point but it was 15 days prior, not 18 days but yes I am very sincere aboout it. I can describe the smell for you.
If you have ever been behind an automative shop where the used oil is stored and the dirt and asphalt is saturated with used oil spillage. Now remember how that smells on a hot summer day after a hard rain. I didn't notice any strong sulphur smell where I was at.

That Saurday the wind came in from the west and southwest all day and it never laid down. There was never any physical sludge or sheen and the boat was clean at the end of the day. There was just a constant odor, not oppresive, just prominent enough to get your attention. The following Wed. one of the same friends went SW out near K tower and told me the smell was gone (wind was from E or SE that day I don't remember which). Maybe I was smelling a by product of the airborne dispersant? Smoke from the oil burnoff? Maybe. How far can the smell travel over water? Not my department.

MD I would like to believe I was smelling something else. really. However, my gut tells me it was related to the spill, nothing I have ever smelled on the water before came even close. MD I don't appreciate rumors and untruths either, but I was not raised to dismiss bad news becuase it is unpopular or worse ridicule them as terrorists. I did not post to create a stir or drop any economy bombs. My need to step forward and divulge this information is soley defend those who come forward with unpopular news and to suggest that we don't miss a chance to encourage everyone to come to our unspoiled coast NOW and hurry, just in case you might miss it.

Could I have been smelling JT's elusive tarballs? I can't comment on that as I have no previous experience to judge by. Perhaps someone with more experience could jump in and describe that particlar odor for the rest of us. Although if that is the case, I mean if that is what I smelled, ...might just keep more people out of the water than the spill.

I believe It! I was out on the Flint River outside Albany, GA yesterday, and could have sworn I smelled oil.
Somebody said the canal at Keaton Beach smells like poo. Could we spread that rumor more. It's almost scollop season, maybe that would thin out the boat traffic some on my home waters. It gets insane during scollop season.

big bend gyrene wrote: Seems like as much as it's grown/spread in the last 18 days, if you smelled it 30 miles off Panacea that long ago we should all be smelling it throughout the big bend fishing area by now.

BBG I never commented on your observation that everyone should be smelling it by now. I understand why you would say that, I'm a natural born skeptic myself...
All I can figure is that the vapors must carry a very long way under the right conditions. Personally I do not believe the source was any where near the Big Bend then or now. I believe the wind was carrying vapors all the way over from the ''containment'' area. Smelling something DOES NOT prove its anywhere close and it could well be a long way off if its source is a strong. If I remember correctly, back about then I read where containment efforts were temporarily suspended due to some heavy fumes.

I understand the need to believe this isn't happening here and just for the record, I did not jump in here with the expectation of trying to prove any one wrong. Funny thing about smells is they are hard to prove (unless you are law enforcement)

You were smelling either the Fenholloway perfume or a tugboat exhaust pushing a barge to St.Marks.

Nobody asked anyone to dismiss any FACTS, only not to jump to conclusions and speculate on a topic that could cause such great harm to so many people. All of the tracking is showing the oil still moving away from the Cape.

Today, they were burning the buffer area at the Cape. When we turning around at the State Park office, a guy walked up and asked if the smoke was from the oil. I thought the lady in the office was gonna choke laughing. Pine tar now equals oil spill.

Forgot about that MD. They were burning St. James Island at Lanark last week.
That smoke was thick and sticky and drifting to the East too.

Launched at PSJ Marina and fished at Mexico Beach. No sign nor smell of oil, but control burn smoke was prominent in the bay when the wind was right. Had a great day on the water with one exception. Had a boat troll by us while we were anchored and his line got caught in our anchor rope (little close I thought). After working with getting that cleared in the 3:00 sun and heat, we started in and didn't pull up the anchor rope. Lost a nice plow anchor, chain, and spliced rope. Expensive mistake. Any pro's out there on splicing anchor rope to chain to use with a windlass?