One is sending down devices to try to better understand where a current in the Gulf known as the Loop Current might take the oil.

WSJ: Gauging Harm to Ecosystem Could Take Years

They monitor -- they have monitored currents like the Loop Current.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

In the short run, there appears to be little risk the Loop Current will carry the oil around South Florida and up the East Coast, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said.

WSJ: Gauging Harm to Ecosystem Could Take Years

The oil trajectory that actually occurs will depend critically both on the short-term evolution of the Loop Current, which feeds into the Gulf Stream, and on the state of the overlying atmosphere.

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