GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Scientists say the Gulf oil spill could
get into the what's called the Loop Current within a day,
eventually carrying oil south along the Florida coast and into the
Florida Keys.
Nick Shay, a physical oceanographer at the University of Miami
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said Monday
once the oil enters the Loop Current, it likely will end up in the
Keys and continue east into the Gulf Stream.
Shay says the oil could affect Florida's beaches, coral reefs,
fisheries and ecosystem within a week.
He described the Loop Current as similar to a "conveyor belt,"
sweeping around the Gulf, through the Keys and right up the East
Coast.
Shay says he cannot think of any scenario where the oil doesn't
eventually reach the Florida Keys.

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