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An estimated four million barrels of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico before the leak was capped. Now the oil appears to be disappearing. As Whitney Ray tells us, beach businesses looking for more advertising dollars and environmentalists who think the damage has been worse than predicted are afraid out-of-sight may mean out-of-mind for BP and the federal regulators sworn to hold BP accountable for every penny.

For many gulf coast residents, the bulk of the summer was spent waiting for oil to come ashore… and waiting for BP to cap its leaky well.

87 days later BP capped the well…. And some oil landed on Florida’s westernmost beaches. Today a majority of the estimated 4 million barrels of oil leaked from the well is gone… having been burned, skimmed and broken up by waves.

“I’m sure the bacteria is probably really working robust overtime right now and now that the oil is reducing it’s showing its benefits,” said DEP Secretary Mike Sole.

With the oil disappearing from the surface, the fear among beach businesses and environmentalists is that out of sight could mean out of mind… and BP won’t end up paying for all the damage its spill caused. Marine Biologist Jack Rudloe believes the bulk of the oil is still in the gulf.

“We’re talking about an ocean that’s a mile, two miles deep. There’s a whole heck of a lot of oil sitting down there that’s getting metabolized very very very slowly,” said Rudloe.

There’s also an ongoing battle to save the tourism industry. BP awarded seven million advertising dollars to seven Panhandle counties last week. Florida asked for 50.

“There’s some repair that needs to be done to the Florida brand and to some of our county brands with in the Florida brand so we certainly made that very clear to BP. They are aware of that situation,” said Chris Thompson, CEO of Visit Florida.

But as things return to normal on the surface, getting more out of BP may get harder.