cellphone-photo-dantada-morguefileA single picture from a cell phone camera may have saved the Gulf of Mexico from a few more weeks — if not months — of oil gushing from the BP well.

The cap that eventually stopped the oil from flowing was almost pulled a day or so after it was installed in mid-July because pressure readings looked so low that they indicated a leak elsewhere in the system. But, Paul Hsieh, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist, was convinced that the containment cap wouldn’t blow after being emailed the picture. He persuaded the other scientists to wait a bit.

And, the government waited six hours. The cap held.

(READ the AP story at CBS)

Photo by dantada, via Morguefile

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