BBC News - Gulf spill's effects 'may not be seen for a decade'

BBC News - Gulf spill's effects 'may not be seen for a decade':

In places the layer of oil and dead animals is 10cm thick

* Gulf 'to recover by end of 2012'
* 'Bad management' led to BP spill

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill 'devastated' life on and near the seafloor, a marine scientist has said.

Studies using a submersible found a layer, as much as 10cm thick in places, of dead animals and oil, said Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia.

Knocking these animals out of the food chain will, in time, affect species relevant to fisheries.

She disputed an assessment by BP's compensation fund that the Gulf of Mexico will recover by the end of 2012

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