Environment

What the Hell Are We Looking At?

I finally just grasped the view of the oil leak that's been running for the last day or so.

The several distinct gusher plumes are coming from the bent riser at top of the blowout preventer. I hate to use the stupid milkshake straw analogy, but if you're drinking a milkshake from a bendy straw, our view of the BOP riser leak is just about the same view as a you would see of your bendy straw. Only in this case, there are cracks in the bent part of the straw through which mud is spewing.

If the camera were to move backwards and away from the BOP, it would eventually show the previous view of the leak at the end of the broken riser where the riser insertion tube is drinking some of the, you know, milkshake.