A Florida State University study investigates the progress of natural bacteria on oil-globed beaches.

If you’ve ever walked along the gulf, you’ve probably noticed black stuff sticking to your heels. That’s nothing new, from Texas all the way around to the Carolinas, “tar” is a naturally occurring substance along southern beaches. The fact that there is currently so much more of it is a problem for BP and our government.

But, as it turns out, there are naturally occurring bacteria that eat the tar globs and recycle them into something Mother Nature can use again.

In fact, even though oil spills and tanker accidents can cause serious ecological and economic damage for higher organisms, they constitute a healthy meal for oil-eating bacteria. Such bacteria feed off crude oil, which also occurs naturally from seep holes in oil fields. These bacteria have found themselves an energy-rich food source and, in the process, help clean up contaminated environments.

Yea!

But the little suckers, or eaters, as the case may be, might be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the current spill. Or possibly even be hindering the cleanup efforts by noshing on the dispersants BP has used to try to mitigate the effects of the spill.

Confused? I was too a first, but read on...

According to Ocean.com, oceanography professors Markus Huettel and Joel Kostka of Florida State University began a study in June to determine the impact of the oil spill on native oil-eating organisms.

The study will look at how quickly oil carried from the spill onto Gulf Coast beaches will be degraded by natural organisms, and to what extent dispersants and other chemicals are helping or hurting the process.

The scientists hope to be able to predict when most of the oil in the beaches will be gone, and find ways to accelerate the oil degradation rate. And speed matters here, because toxic crude components that remain buried on the beaches may seep into the groundwater below.

"This enormous oil spill affects hundreds of miles of beaches in the Gulf of Mexico," Huettel said. "We can remove the oil from the beach surface, but oil is also carried deeper into the sand, and we need to understand what happens to that oil.”

There is not a whole lot of good news flowing out of the gulf lately. But if these guys can give us any info on when the clean up is likely to end, I say, hazzah! Any one else want to join me with a donation to the FSU oceanography department?