Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia discusses hypoxia caused by underwater oil plumes from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, 22 June 2010. Paul Efland, University of Georgia, via The Associated Press

By John Flesher of The Associated Press 
Published: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 6:46 PM A marine scientist says underwater oil plumes in the Gulf of Mexico are reducing oxygen in some areas, but the drop-off isn’t steep enough to endanger marine life just yet. Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia said Tuesday that water samples show oxygen concentrations within the plumes are dropping 1 percent to 2 percent each day. She said at that rate, it would take months for levels to become hazardous for fish and other animals. Vast amounts of methane are leaking from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon oil well. Microbes feeding on the methane also consume oxygen. Scientists say if that process goes too far, it could create “dead zones” with so little oxygen that virtually nothing could live.

Oxygen levels are down in Gulf of Mexico oil plumes, scientist says