Hyping the oil spill?

More and more experts are saying that the Gulf Coast mess isn't turning out to be nearly the disaster that everybody had thought, at least so far. "I have no interest in making BP look good - I think they lied about the size of the spill - but we're not seeing catastrophic impacts," said marine scientist Ivor van Heerden. From Time:

The scientists I spoke with cite four basic reasons the initial eco-fears seem overblown. First, the Deepwater oil, unlike the black glop from the Valdez, is unusually light and degradable, which is why the slick in the Gulf is dissolving surprisingly rapidly now that the gusher has been capped. Second, the Gulf of Mexico, unlike Alaska's Prince William Sound, is very warm, which has helped bacteria break down the oil. Third, heavy flows of Mississippi River water have helped keep the oil away from the coast, where it can do much more damage. And finally, Mother Nature can be incredibly resilient. Van Heerden's assessment team showed me around Casse-tete Island in Timbalier Bay, where new shoots of Spartina grasses were sprouting in oiled marshes and new leaves were growing on the first black mangroves I've ever seen that were actually black. "It comes back fast, doesn't it?" van Heerden said. (See 12 people to blame for the Gulf oil spill.)