I saw a video of how well Hay works in collecting the oil, and it looks to be a great strategy. In their not using it, you almost wonder if they WANT this to be worse than it has to be!
Here’s a demonstration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5SxX2EntEo
The hay thing is interesting... but you also have to understand that it isn’t always so simple. For one thing... the quantity of hay required to cover many hundreds of square miles of ocean would pretty much wipe out the hay supply in the U.S., if not the world. People that own horses might have a problem with that...