http://staugustine.com/news/2015-10-27/coral-damage-gulf-oil-spill-worse-thought#.VjF0uCvw_3l
Coral damage from Gulf oil spill worse than thought
Posted: October 27, 2015 - 11:01pm |
Updated: October 28, 2015 - 12:02am
This Sept. 26, 2011 photo provided and taken by Florida State University
oceanographer Ian McDonald via an unmanned submersible vehicle, at a
depth of 68 meters at the Alabama Alps Reef, offshore of Mississippi and
Louisiana, 35 miles from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion
and oil spill, shows Hypnogorgia pendula coral with injuries attributed
to the oil spill, according to a recently released scientific study. The
new study reveals that toxins from BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
damaged coral in a larger arc than previously mapped after researchers
discovered sick and dying corals in the Pinnacles, a rich, deep-water
environment off the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi. (Ian
MacDonald/Florida State University via AP) Ian MacDonald
By CAIN BURDEAU
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — Gulf coral damage from the massive BP oil spill is more
extensive than previously thought, according to a new study that
revealed sick and dying corals in the rich, deep-water environment off
the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi known as the Pinnacles.
Using remotely operated submarines, researchers explored the Pinnacle
Reef in September 2011 and found more than 400 coral colonies were
injured. Corals — such as sea whips, sea fans and black corals — were
covered in a scum of dead tissues and oily residue. Some showed severe
damage, such as bare skeletons and missing branches.
These colonies are found about 35 miles to 68 miles to the north of BP
PLC’s blown-out well, which spewed more than 130 million gallons of oil
into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Previous discoveries of coral damage
were found south of the BP well and in much deeper water. The coral in
the Pinnacles live about 200 feet under the water surface.
The Pinnacles is a rocky outcropping on the Continental Shelf about 70
miles off the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama.
The study was conducted by a team of Florida State University
researchers and federal scientists with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. It was also done as part of the work to
assess damage from the spill, the so-called natural resources damage
assessment. The study is set to be published in Deep-Sea Research.
The paper said the damaged coral showed signs of injury from an “acute,
isolated event rather than ongoing natural processes.” It based this
conclusion on previous explorations that looked at the corals between
1997 and 1999, which found the corals were mostly healthy.
“We saw many injured colonies,” said Ian MacDonald, an oceanographer at
Florida State University. He is one of the authors of the study.
He believes a much larger area of the Pinnacles most likely suffered
similar damage.
“The area we have looked at so far is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
The researchers believe oil floating over the Pinnacles was sprayed with
chemical dispersants, which led to oil sinking and contaminating the
reef. The paper also says a tropical storm that passed over the area
during summer 2010 churned up the sea and caused oil to reach the corals.
“It is a new region and a new ecosystem showing impact,” said Erik
Cordes, a deep-sea marine scientist familiar with the Pinnacles Reef study.
He’s been involved with teams looking at coral damage closer to the site
of the BP blowout.
“We’ll have to monitor it over time,” Cordes said.
Even though more than five years have passed since the spill, scientists
are still locked in studies to figure out where the oil went and what
effects it had on the Gulf ecosystem.
MacDonald said one way to protect the reef from further damage would be
to designate it as a protected marine sanctuary.
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