Oil Surfacing from the USS Arizona

"There were 1.4 million gallons of fuel on the USS Arizona when she sank. Over 60 years later, approximately nine quarts still surfaces from the ship each day. Some Pearl Harbor survivors have referred to the oil droplets as 'Black Tears.'"
FAQ #1 covers this in depth here: www.nps.gov/val...
Video taken on Olympus Stylus Tough by myself on 29Dec2010 at the USS Arizona Memorial.

[@coolcat5714]

While looking over it a gentleman next to said what I was thinking ..."still ,after all these years" ....it seems like the souls of the men being slowly released from their watery tomb.

[@EstebanMataVargas]

It´s kind of funny (and by funny I mean amazing, strange, surprising) how an oil leak in the water becomes the very definition of sadness. I'm not even American but those sailors lives are something to which we all should pay our respects.

[@retrorainbow]

[@raysantiago3750]

I visited the USS ARIZONA in 82, 85, 87, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 98, 99, 00, 01, 04, 05, 08, 10, 12, 16, 18 and everytime my heart drops in total sadness, knowing how many US NAVY, ARMY AND MARINES (Americans died on December 7, 1941.) I always tell friends and family to visit the Memorial and honor our Men and Women. The life of the ship bleeds to this day. July 20, 2020 😎👍🇺🇸

[@mrrexychomp9829]

I always wanted to visit the memorial but getting there is expensive and being in a different country does not help

[@wryderwilson6724]

They leave the oil bc they say she still crying for the sailors she lost.

[@retrorainbow]

That's not why they leave it, but yes, the oil is referred to as black tears

[@retrorainbow]

@@michaeljenner9906 please read any of my other comments or use Google, it's a fine resource

[@retrorainbow]

@@michaeljenner9906 why? I posted a video of something I found interesting on the internet like a decade ago. If you just want to bait me and goad me into arguing I'm not here for it. Goodnight.

[@pokegenandoz1574]

Rude af

[@retrorainbow]

@@pokegenandoz1574 yeah it is, but I'm not worried about it, I delete the rudest and conspiracy theory comments and redirect the rest to the answers to their questions. I'm just a regular human being - I could have told Jenner the answer if it were closer to my visit with the information having been freshly learned, but it's been years, and it does really rub me the wrong way that he fully knows the answer and seemingly wanted to lord his superiority over a stranger on youtube. I can't be fucked to care much about what he or any other troll thinks lol

[@rekunta]

Black tears. I live on Maui and go to Arizona sometimes if I have the chance when visiting O'ahu. Very sad. What I don't understand is why no effort is being made to drain the oil? Is it not possible to tap the leak or drill into the tank to siphon? That's valuable fuel going to waste, plus it would prevent the inevitable environmental catastrophe when the ship eventually corrodes to the point it will break apart. This wouldn't be a desecration of those resting either. Is it too expensive? Why don't they do this?

[@fal1449]

It's for the memories. Nobody's touching an artifact that shows our sad but yet happy ending to WW2. It's about remembering who fought for us.

[@devinaschenbrenner2683]

There actually is no way to recover the oil with out exsecive damage to the Arizona in her current state. The problem is everything was held below decks so you would have to open up the ship and go into her decks far enough down to reach the containers holding the oil. And the problem with that is its not just a wreckage of a ship. Its a tomb of over 1000 sailors. Now it is being monitored but at this point the local eco system has delt with it for so long its not really effecting it like the oil spill in the golf did.

[@mrrexychomp9829]

You would have to destroy the ship to get down to the oil tanks and doing that would be the equivalent of blowing up a cemetery just for someone's golden teeth. And besides leaving it is the best thing they can do, the ship acts as a memorial for her crew and the metal breaking down over time is good for the ocean. And besides that the oil would not be in a usable state anymore, when refined fuel stays unused for too long it starts to change into unusable chemicals and resin.

[@brucesheehe6305]

Over half of all deaths during The Pearl Harbor Attack were sailors of The USS Arizona. The explosion released as much energy as a small nuclear weapon. The front part of the ship literally jumped out of the water.

[@justgjt]

Trapped oily bubbles of air from the morning December 7th 1941 finally breaking free from a place that the they cannot. . . .

[@chadscombatvet9182]

Real fuel oil

[@1mrsohara]

Been there, large oil slick slowly leaking.

[@hi9913]

Satisfying colors!

[@cashmerefunk2136]

Is there any way they can stop the oil leak..

[@retrorainbow]

Unfortunately any effort would actually release what is left even faster, and cause further damage than allowing it to seep slowly like this :( trust me, they would if they could...

[@cashmerefunk2136]

@@retrorainbow exactly exactly i see your point..

[@AroundTheSouth327]

Id imagine they could build a box around it and filter the water out. Like when they build dry boxes to make bridge pillers.

[@Aberman1]

@@AroundTheSouth327 it is a war grave

[@AroundTheSouth327]

@@Aberman1 50/50, id say more like "was" but the question is what are we doing to the planet for it.

[@cesarmorales9090]

i miss it

[@cesarmorales9090]

o:30 is the best

[@cesarmorales9090]

i miss the ship everthing i miss

[@radcam69]

ROYGBIV.