but right now we re not seeing many targets for our skimming fleet of 780 skimmers. you realize when you say that, it s so hard for people to believe that this spill was so enormous and yet you are having trouble finding the oil to skim it? well, it s not for lack of trying. we have had 50 aircraft saturating this very location where satellites indicate there could be oil sheen in the area. and so we re going to look just like we would doing search and rescue to see where any possible target pocket of oil might be over this area. reporter: remarkably, the coast guard says surface oil from the bp spill could be gone in a matter of weeks. as the sheen and bands of weathered oil continue to dissipate and evaporate. what we re finding out is that the storm didn t have any effect on the oil at all. the wind and the waves that it produced weren t strong enough to help break the oil up. so in other words, that storm,
hayward has been under fire for his handling of the gulf disaster and gave up leadership responsibilities in june. hayward has the full support of the board. that board meets tomorrow, by the way. out in the gulf, ships returned to the site of the wounded bp well after being chased away by a storm. our david mattingly flew over the site today, and here s what he saw. reporter: all the pieces are coming back together in a coast guard flyover of the spill site we saw platforms and ships gearing back up to kill the bp well. after running from cover from a tropical storm that never arrived. but there s one thing we don t see. what happened to all the pools of thick, crude oil? this oil is rapidly breaking down. it is very little oil left. we have a few streamers that we located earlier off of grand isle, that perhaps can be skimmed, but right now we re not seeing many targets for where our skimming fleet of 780
would be american bob dudley, a native of the gulf coast region, raised in mississippi. 98 days into this disaster, and the federal on-scene coordinator tells cnn s david mattingly oil on the surface of the gulf is breaking down very quickly now, and that the flow has been cut off. this oil is rapidly breaking down. and there s very little oil left. we have a few streamers that we located earlier off grand isle that perhaps can be skimmed. but right now, we re not seeing many targets for our skimming fleet of 0 skimmers. you realize, when you say that, it s so hard for people to believe that this spill was so enormous, and yet you re having trouble finding the oil to skim it? well, it s not for lack of trying. we have had 50 aircraft saturating this very location where satellites indicate there could be oil seen in the area. and so we re going to look, just
i ve talked to the coast guard command inner charer in charge described it as a problem that s good to have right now. this oil is rapidly breaking down and there is very little oil left. we have a few streamers that we located earlier off of grand isle that perhaps can be skimmed but right now we re not seeing many targets for our skimming fleet of 780 skimmers. you realize when you say that it s so hard for people to believe that this spill was so enormous and yet you re having trouble finding the oil to skim it? it s not for lack of trying. we ve had 50 aircraft saturating this very location where satellites indicate there could be oil sheen in the area and so we re going to look just like we would during search and rescue to see where any possible target pocket of oil might be over this area. and to puncuate this point,
saw some emulsified oil and some sheen. but so far there seems to be exactly what the coast guard is telling us. they are having trouble finding those patches of thick oil for the skimmers to come in close and pick those patches up. i talked to the admiral in charge of that and he says it s true. they re having trouble finding that thick oil. this oil is rapidly breaking down and there s very little oil left. we have a few streamers that we located earlier off of grand isle that perhaps can be skimmed, but right now we re not seeing any targets of our skimming fleet of 7 or 800 sk m skimmers. you know that s hard for