good evening, we re going to begin here tonight in the gulf of mexico. specifically with a reality check on just how much of the oil released into the water from that bp deepwater horizon well is still there. the government s been reporting that only about 25% of the oil from that spill remains. but is that at all accurate? and in plain english, did anybody really think 90 days worth of crude oil was just somehow slowly vanishing? anne thompson is in venice, louisiana for us once again tonight. ann, good evening. reporter: good evening, brian. you know, at the heart this is a number s game. and all sides on this issue admit no one knows for sure exactly how much oil is left in the gulf of mexico. but tonight there are clues about where some of it has gone. pictures of an increasingly blue gulf seem to support the obama administration claim two weeks ago. the vast majority of the oil has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed and recovered from the well head or disperse
that bp deepwater horizon well is still there. as you may know, the government s been reporting that only about 25% of the oil from that still remains. but is that at all accurate? and in plain english, did anybody really think 90 days worth of crude oil was just somehow slowly vanishing? our chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson is in venice, louisiana once again for us. anne, good evening. reporter: good evening, brian. you know, at the heart this is a number s game. and all sides on this issue admit no one knows for sure exactly how much oil is left in the gulf of mexico. but tonight there are clues about where some of it has gone. pictures of an increasingly blue gulf seem to support the obama administration claim two weeks ago. the vast majority of the oil has either evaporated or been burned, skimmed and recovered from the well head or dispersed. that leaves 70 to 79%. reporter: but today, researchers from the university of georgia say their ca