[invisible]

Huh? I can't find that anywhere. I can only find that it's traveling beneath the booms put in place to contain the oil (probably due to waves/volume).

Oil is low density and by nature floats. Oil is non-polar while water is polar (so they naturally separate). This isn't some magical oil spill - it has the same rules as pouring vegetable oil into a glass of water and stirring it.

I'm interested in what could cause oil to be suspended beneath something more dense (water). Perhaps it is just taking longer to reach the surface due to currents?

[frio]

Well, it's not like it's going to go straight up. Keep in mind that if you pour vegetable oil into water and stir it vigorously enough, some of it will go beneath the water (admittedly, it won't dissolve into it or anything, it'll remain in big globules). A lot of oil is below the surface due to the sheer volume coming out (and yes, currents carrying it around :)).

[colonelxc]

Found it, it was from slashdot. Read the part about the "Fractioning Column"

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8199-Breakthrough-Energy-...

Mirror, since they are down for maintenence: http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=http://www.examiner.com/exa...