A Whale in Gulf Being Tested Video

The A Whale oil skimming rig arrived in the Gulf and is said to be about 6 miles out from the spill site. Today the vessel is undergoing tests of a 25 mile area. See the video of this giant ship below

A Whale Oil Skimmer

A Whale's project manager says the rig can skim up to 300,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil out of the water daily (a max of 21 million gallons), depending on weather conditions. God help him if his projections come in low. The government has had a bit of an attitude about it. The EPA and the Coast Guard have delayed the A Whale's arrival while checking procedure manuals to determine whether the giant vessel may damage the environment:

The ship arrived in the Gulf on Wednesday, but officials have wanted to test its capability as well as have the federal Environmental Protection Agency sign off on the water it will pump back into the gulf. 

Although the ship cleans most of the oil from seawater, trace amounts of crude remain.

The wait has frustrated some local officials, who say the mammoth skimmer would be a game-changer in preventing drifting streams of oil from washing ashore on vulnerable coastlines.

During a Thursday tour of the inlet to Barataria Bay, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said it was exasperating to have A Whale anchored offshore instead of being put to immediate use.

“They’ve used the war rhetoric,” Jindal said aboard a Louisiana state wildlife boat floating in oil-slicked waters near Grand Isle. “If this is really a war, they need to be using every resource that makes sense to fight this oil before it comes to our coast.”

Last week, Palquemines president Billy Nungesser said with the A Whale in the area, we could be "kicking butt," and also said, if we lose this war, it will be the President's fault. This is a great video.