Having grown up down there, I can say without any hesitation that the booms will be completely ineffective. The keys are islands, and the gulf side is dotted with hundreds, if not thousands of small mangrove islands where the birds and small fish spawn and grow. Because of the amount of area we're talking about, hundreds of square miles and how spread out it is, plus the regularly occurring high wave action, booms are nothing except a PR ploy to make people feel like they have done something.

If the oil gets there in any quantity, the keys are ruined.

I talked to a fishing guide down there today who hasn't seen any oil yet personally, but they are all worried.