re: BP spill and some other questions...

Dynamic positioning systems use thrusters that hold the rigs in position. Its pretty impressive. I've watched the captains of those rigs rotate the rig around the hole to get the sun out of the driller's eyes. Technology is crazy. I work with down hole tools and a lot of the engineering involved there, but on a few occasions get to see the surface equipment in action and it really does blow me away. We've got rigs pulling 1.2 million lbs of pipe stying in position over an 8.5" hole that is in up to 10,000' of water. Insane.

Ultimately the cause ties back to a poor cementing job. After a section of hole is drilled, the run pipe or casing in to hold the hole open and they pump cement between the hole and the pipe to cement it in place. If the pipe isn't centralized and the fluid properties of the cement arent right, channeling (strips where cement doesn't cover the casing) occurs. That provides an avenue for pressure to flow from zone to zone when it isnt supposed to. If they plan to drill on and think that pressure is isolated, bad things can happen. There are several other safety features to stop a kick back (uncontrolled pressure surge), but all of them were improperly used or failed. Ultimately gas got to surface and ignited. Rest is history.

I would say most probably can't tell a big difference in the fishing now compared to before. I know I can't. That summer was horrible though. I had just graduated and was in prime fishing area with nothing to do. The long term affects have yet to be seen, but for now it's back to "normal".