USF: BP Oil Back, Off Panama City in Toxic Concentrations

The April 20 Deepwater Horizon disaster is far from over for Florida.

Vast concentrations of BP oil toxic to marine life may have settled to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico just off Panama City, according to a report due to be released later Tuesday.

Researchers from the University of South Florida, back Monday night from a fact-finding excursion in the Gulf, say they will release their report later Tuesday.

According to CNN, which was first to report the story, initial findings show that dispersants may have sent droplets of crude to the ocean floor, where it has turned up at the bottom of an undersea canyon within 40 miles of the Florida Panhandle.

CNN said USF confirmed that plankton and other organisms at the base of the food chain displayeda "strong toxic response" to the crude. The fear now is that the oil could well up onto the continental shelf and resurface later.

Watch Sunshine State News for coverage of the USFs report.