Following an oily trail

Oil and methane bubble to the ocean’s surface from seeps off Coal Oil Point, near Santa Barbara, California. The oil seeps provide a natural “laboratory” for WHOI chemist Chris Reddy and colleague, David Valentine of University of California, Santa Barbara, to study accidental spills. The two are investigating what happens to oil spilled into the ocean, with an eye toward finding better ways to “engineer” cleanups.

(Photo by Chris Reddy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)