Oil and tar on beaches in Texas are a real drag. Folks down there seem to be used to it and all the hotels and condos pass out free "tar-off" moistened towelettes. Pretty gross. Florida is right to be cautious, but I agree that a survey of what is out there would be a good idea.

Odysseus,

You're right, oil and tar on the beach is a drag, but 99.9% is from natural oil seeps, not from shipping or production. One of the reasons that Texas was an early target for exploration was our oil seeps. Same in California-LaBrea tar pits, Iraq-the ancient Sumerians used pitch as a mortar-and many other areas of the world. If you want I could go on ad nauseum.
The Coast Guard regulations are extremely strict. A ship or rig can't even dump used cooking oil in the water. So while I understand your concern, its based on practices that were stopped 35 years ago.
Bob Ebersole