The current in the Gulf of Mexico has begun flowing in a clockwise circle, a temporary shift that spins a massive oil spill away from the Florida Keys and the East Coast, a group of academics said Wednesday.

But Robert Weisberg, an oceanography professor at the University of South Florida, warned that oil is still spreading toward the Keys and that currents could change within days to put the eastern seaboard at risk.

"We need data," Weisberg said. "We need observations."

He and other professors and university officials spoke at a Capitol Hill briefing heavily attended by congressional staffers and a handful of other academics.

Frank Brogan, chancellor of the University System of Florida, said more research is needed not just on how the oil is spreading but on how it's affecting marine life, the environment and the economy.

The spill began after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana last month. BP is trying a method known as a "top kill" to plug the leaking well 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf.

"We're all going to say our prayers that the 'top kill' works," Brogan said. "To ignore the research that is available to us would be a tragedy in itself."

Weisberg said researchers at the University of South Florida, working with researchers at North Carolina State University, are using five different models to track and predict where ocean currents will carry the oil. He corrects the predictions to reflect the oil's actual location as observed by research ships or satellites.

His maps have proven accurate enough for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to post them online with updates twice daily.

Wednesday's briefing also gave universities researching the spill a chance to ask for more funding.

"They cannot sustain this out of the goodness of their hearts," said Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., who helped organize the briefing. "I think BP needs to step up to provide those resources in the Gulf."