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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

(Newser) – 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.

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)

Map shows the forecast location for oil spill. (Associated Press)

A vessel passes through a patch of oil near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Monday, May 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tar balls retrieved Monday from Fort Zachary State Park in Key West, Fla., are shown in this Monday, May 17 photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. (AP Photo/ U.S. Coast Guard)

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

Loop Current will take it up the Florida coast in about a week

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