By Nicole Allan

In the latest sci-fi development from the Gulf oil spill, scientists have found enormous oil "plumes" beneath the ocean's surface. With this, and last week's underwater footage of oil and natural gas gushing out of the ruptured well, it's apparent that BP's estimate of the amount of oil entering the Gulf each day is at once laughably and horrifyingly low.  Weeks ago, not long after the spill was first verified, BP, the Coast Guard, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that the well was leaking 5,000 barrels of oil a day. They based this estimate on analysis of the oil slick at the water's surface. Independent scientists analyzing the slick set the estimate at 25,000 barrels a day, and once BP released the underwater video, they calculated flow rates as high as 80,000 barrels a day.

Scientists have come down hard on BP for refusing to take advantage of methods available to measure the oil. The New York Times reported Thursday that BP was planning to fly scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to Louisiana to conduct volume measurements. The oceanographers were poised to use underwater ultrasound equipment to measure the flow of oil and gas from the ocean floor when BP canceled the trip.