Reply #131: OK, getting confused, here

[Lagomorph]

Without getting too far into it, I read that there is some sort of naturally occurring microbe that that thrives on oil. In the course of the spill, the population of the microbes spiked. The microbes use oxygen to digest oil and the oxygen level in the gulf dropped during the process.

These microbe populations normally sustain themselves on natural seepage of oil into the oceans, which is why, after billions of years, the oceans are not sludge.

It all sounded very scientific, especially coming from scientists. That doesn't mean that there isn't a hell of a lot of oil out there, still, not to mention microbe poop and indigestible toxins.

It does fit into my perception that the planet is fairly resilient. Nature seems to have more answers than people do.