bottom of the ocean in the gulf of mexico. they say it s significant. when they put uv light up against it, it just sprang up. i m told now we have the piece. as you watch it, you ll see what that oil looks like when it kind of comes to life on the floor of the ocean. this is the weatherbird ii, a research vessel used by the university of south florida for the last ten days. some 13 scientists have been on board and they re just now coming home to st. petersburg. what s in these containers right here? water in here was collected from 50 meters. reporter: david was one of the lead researchers on the mission. do you feel like you re on the verge of getting a better understanding of what s going on underneath the water? i think we re adding to the puzzle. this is where we found the sedimentary oil. reporter: david and john paul sat down with cnn for an exclusive review of their findings.
this is the weather bird 2, a research vessel used by the university of south florida for the last ten days. investigating the oil spill. some 13 scientists have been on-board and they re just now coming home to st. petersburg. what s in these containers right here? water in here has been was collected from 50 meters. reporter: david hollander was one of the lead researchers on the mission. did you feel like you were kind of on the verge of really getting a better understanding of what s going on underneath the water? i think we re adding to the puzzle. we re adding to the pieces of the puzzle. reporter: hollander and another expert on the journey john paul sat down with cnn for an exclusive review of their findings. they found toxic levels of oil and dispersants affecting marine organisms 40 miles south of panama city, florida. the organisms and other microscopic bacteria in the ocean are the foundation of the food chain. what feeds and fuels the ecology of the ocean and i
they have done over the last ten days has shown them for the first time they are getting toxicity levels that show microscopic marine life in the gulf waters have been infected and ingested by the oil in the gulf mexico. this is the weather bird 2. research vessel used by the university of south florida for the last ten days. investigating the oil spill. some 13 scientists have been onboard and they are just now coming home to st. petersburg. what s in the containers? water in here collected from 50. reporter: david hollander was one of the lead researchers on the mission. did you feel like you are on the verge of really getting a better understanding of what s going on underneath the water? i think we are adding to the puzzle. we are adding to the pieces of the puzzle. where we found this. reporter: hollander and another expert on the journey, john paul, sat down with cnn for an exclusive review of their findings. the scientists say they found toxic levels of oil and dispers
florida. reporter: we caught up with the scientist that returned from the ten-day mission from the gulf waters. one of the interest things about what they told us is that they are finding for the first time toxicity levels in the small marine life that s the basis of for the bigger fish and shrimp and tuna and snapper we love to eat so much from the gulf waters. this is the weatherbird 2. research vessel that has been used by the university of south florida for the last ten days. investigating the oil spill. some 13 scientists have been onboard and they are just now coming home to st. petersburg. what s in these containers? water in here. it has been collected from 50 meters. reporter: david hollander was one of the lead researchers on the mission. do you feel like you are on the verge of really getting a better understanding of what s going on underneath the water? i think we are adding to the puzzle. we are adding to the pieces of the puzzle. reporter: hollander and anoth
mind couldn t be further from reality. now that they ve just return from this ten-day mission out in the gulf waters to study the oil spill, they say for the first time they re finding toxicity levels in the water affecting crucial marine organisms. this is the weather bird 2, a research vessel used by the university of south florida for the last ten days. investigating the oil spill. some 13 scientists have been on-board and they re just now coming home to st. petersburg. water in here has been was collected from 50 meters. reporter: david was one of the lead researchers on the mission. did you feel like you were kind of on the verge of really getting a better understanding of what s going on underneath the water? i think we re adding to the puzzle. we re adding to the pieces of the puzzle. reporter: hollander and another expert on the journey sat down with us for their