But misperception that the oil has arrived -- and the threat that it still could -- has led to the filing in South Florida of 18 federal lawsuits against BP in the past two weeks.
The eclectic group of plaintiffs includes the Brass Monkey Lounge, tiki party boat owner Captain Duck, a commercial stone crab fisherman and the manager of oceanfront vacation rentals in Key West.
``It's still beautiful here,'' said Judy Sorenson, owner of the Brass Monkey Lounge, a local watering hole in Marathon that also caters to tourists. ``But people aren't coming because they think the oil is here, even though it isn't here. That's killing the Keys.''
Even Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum in the Southernmost City has gotten into the litigation act against the corporate oil giant and associated rig operators and repair agents, claiming that attendance is down to see its white buffalo, camel bone carving and other weird exhibits because of the loss of tourism from the oil spill.
With oil still spewing from the leak site hundreds of miles away in the Gulf of Mexico, many more similar lawsuits are in the works to be filed by businesses in South Florida, according to lawyers involved in the lawsuits. Because of the changing nature of the disaster, none has yet specified damages in dollar amounts, but the total is expected to reach more than $5 million for the class action lawsuits.
``I think every single resident in the Keys is going to be a victim of the oil spill, from fishermen and hoteliers to the waitresses in the restaurants,'' said Robert Brown of the Miami-based law firm Baron & Budd that is part of a team representing seven charter boat captains and Ripley's.
Brown said people keep calling for representation, including a man who owns an acre of bay bottom used to harvest live rock for aquariums.
To handle the flood, BP has opened two claims offices in the Keys, one in Marathon on May 29 and one in Key West on June 4.
``Clearly, there has been no oil impacts here in the Keys, but we are working to be proactive,'' said Andrew Van Chau, BP's community liaison from Key Largo to Key West. ``We're working with the state of Florida on a $25 million advertising campaign for tourism to say businesses are open and the fishing is good.''
So far, about 350 individuals or businesses have filed claims at the two Keys' offices, with processing taking about seven to 10 days. BP wouldn't say how many, if any, of those claims have been paid yet.
Richard Morecroft, owner of All Florida Keys Property Management Company, which rents 50 units at a swanky condo resort in Key West, said he did not file a claim with BP before filing his lawsuit.
``I don't trust that BP will do what is right for the small, independent, family-owned business,'' Morecroft said. ``I just want them to know I mean business.''
Although this is the slow time of year for tourism in the Keys, Morecroft said he already has lost 10 bookings at $1,000 each due to the oil spill.
Jose Manual Olivera, a commercial stone crab and lobster fisherman based in Marathon, has filed a lawsuit although seasons now are closed for both seafood delicacies.
Attorney Steve Hunter, who represents Olivera, said he obviously would not be able to prove damages ``right now.'' But Hunter said it is important that the lawsuit be filed to alert BP and other companies to ``start thinking about the Florida Keys, with its reefs and the mangroves that are very, very delicate.''
Hunter said that even if the oil never arrives in the Keys' fishing grounds, commercial fishermen could be hurt by the ``stigma damage'' of their Gulf seafood.
Family-owned Casablanca Fish Market, which operates a Miami River eatery and small fleet of fishing boats, employs 87 people and was the first business to file in South Florida.
``What may be a hiccup for a big oil industry could be a heart attack for a small fish house and its fishermen,'' said attorney Ronald Rodman, who represents the fish market.
With the ``dark cloud'' still lingering over the Keys that the oil and toxic dispersants could arrive, even Keys businesses and fishermen not affected have been bombarded with pitches from law firms and offers to attend free informational seminars on how-to-sue BP.
On Wednesday, the Key West-based firm Horan, Wallace & Higgins partnered with a mass tort law firm, Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer from Tallahassee, to hold two seminars: one for fishermen and charter boat captains and one for tourist-related business owners.
``You don't need an attorney for short-term damages; the long term is what we're looking at,'' David Paul Horan told about 40 people at the Key West Yacht Club. ``I don't know, and nobody else knows, if we're going to have a worst-case scenario.''
An owner of a tattoo business on touristy Duval Street in Key West asked how businesses hurt by the ``trickle-down'' affect could document damages since her customers are walk-ins.
All the hundreds of oil spill lawsuits filed in several states most likely will be consolidated into one multidistrict litigation case, where issues of negligence that are common to everybody will be decided in one court.
``Then the only thing left to prove is damages,'' said Hunter who represents the stone crab fisherman. ``Everybody goes back from where they are from to have juries of their peers give them their day in court.''
This all could take years.
Of the 18 lawsuits already filed in South Florida, 11 were by charter boat captains who have been among the first to feel the pinch because they primarily make their living taking tourists fishing, snorkeling, diving and/or partying off the Keys.
Capt. Dana Banks, who runs a 38-foot charter boat called the War Bird out of the ritzy Ocean Reef Club in North Key Largo, said his bookings are down for fishing trips that run $1,200 for a full day and $800 for a half day.
``I have some bookings for this week and next week for tournaments, but after that: Nothing,'' he said. ``I don't have any concrete evidence that says it's from what's happening from the oil spill. Now, I only speculate as they do on Wall Street.''
