September 6, 2006: Oil spill in Philippines

This oil spill in the Philippines is a disaster, but that doesn't stop us from appreciating one thing about it: the color. Its rainbow-like sheen is unlike anything else, the beauty in this bad thing.



And the oddity in this bad thing: in this WaPo day in pics image caught by xoB, a prison inmate is donating his hair so that it can be used in an effort to clean the spill.

This full story explains that, along with the inmates, 500 hair salons are donating hair to this cause. It's kind of experimental; apparently a researcher found that when hair is dragged through the oil in permeable bags, some oil will cling to it, making for a low-tech cleanup approach.

No word on how well that's going. Off-hand, it sounds like a feel-good public effort that may be more effective at rallying the people than actually cleaning the spill. Others aren't waiting for the hair treatment; this story about prosecuting the captain of the oil tanker mentions (at the bottom):

I'm confused about the forehead tattoo... Is that how you spell "bitch" in their language?

He sold it as advertising space to Nestle. At first they thought it was a great deal, until he went to jail for kiddi porn.

My god, did they shave all those heads with a dull razor!? Hasn't anyone heard of electricity?

so did he shave any time off his sentence by this donation?

I wonder if they accept donations of "other" body hair.

Welcome to the Cellar, Tomtheman5

OK, one free lunch in the commissary to barefoot serpent, for flushing a lurker out into the open.

I would have expected the person doing the shaving to be wearing gloves for this procedure. I mean, seems like a good chance someone is going to get nicked, and God knows what diseases this lot might have. Philippine jail? Ick!

I would have expected the person doing the shaving to be wearing gloves for this procedure.

My friend you know LITTLE about the PI ,
if it is logical and makes sence and costs a penny or two ,,,,
it don't happen .

I'm skeptical of the rainbow effect. Seeing as the photo was taken from a jetliner (wing and engine in evidence), my argument would be thus: Airliner windows are plexiglass, and any picture shot through plexi with a polarizer will give you a nifty rainbow (it reveals the internal stresses of the window plastic).

Like this guy ( http://cinemazement.com/blog/?p=1028 ) found out...

The dense bits (say, the lower-right-central smear) looks more like i'd expect oil slick to appear -- small swirly rainbows, rippled and wavy like water. The large swathes of even rainbow colors (like the extreme lower-right) I'd argue are not because of the oil, but some other, more benign, influence.

Tulzscha, the photographer in your link was on a pressurized commercial airliner at considerable altitude.
Didn't you see the pictures of New Orleans with the oil slicks on the water? Alaska's prince William sound when the Exxon tanker ran aground? Those types of pictures are in the news all the time.

How do you know it was a pressurized airliner and not a private or military plane?
Pressure has everything to do with it, the pressure differential between the inside and outside causes strain in the widow and produces the color patterns. Ever see that effect through a plane window on the ground? I don't think so, unless the window has been permanently distorted by a twist in the airframe.

People take pictures through Plexiglas all the time. I take them through my storm doors frequently, without color patterns.

Of course, my argument hinges on the somewhat dubious notion that someone had a polarizer on their snapshot camera, so, well, hmm...

Quick experiment:
Drive a car with tinted windows down to the beach.
Put on a pair of polaroid sunglasses.
Watch the rainbows sparkle on the sea.
Try it in your own time, no pressure.

I think it must be some form of refraction of the reflected sunlight through the two different films.

Do you think that our photographer used a polaroid lense?

Another Aussie! Welcome to the Cellar, RodinPat.
We're getting a formidable contingent from down under....that's great.

tulzscha, you may be right. The IOtD picture could be picking up some color from the window combined with the photographic technique. I was just pointing out the other oil slicks we've seen in the news, and in person, show color, so it can't be the total cause.

The effect shown in the website you linked is an extreme case and exactly what we do in the lab to show strain. Attaching Plexiglas to a part and subjecting the part to stress, the strain will show up in the Plexiglas clearly enough to photograph it.

And......

We just need Filipino Cellarites to do some on-the-spot testing and reportage!

Or, alternatively, I *do* need a vacation....