Oil Spill Plumes Contaminate Water Column, Food Chain
source: http://www.livescience.com/environment/gulf-oil-spill-underwater-plumes-100921.html
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- DeliaTheArtist
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"A research team from Columbia University in New York returned this past weekend (Sept. 17 to 19) from a tour of duty in the Gulf of Mexico with new data to attempt to measure the location and magnitude of subsurface oil plumes, and their effects on the marine ecosystem, which have recently been the focus of much debate.
They found oil on the seafloor, evidence that it may be in the food chain, and signs that it may be hidden in large marine mammals. In spots, the "oily snow" — degraded oil and other organic material that clings to it — was up to 6 inches (15 centimeters)
"The idea that the oil is degraded and therefore doesn't matter is something we have to think about differently," Subramaniam said at a talk here today. "This is one of the first findings that showed degraded oil material collected on the seafloor."
When this gunk starts to pile up on the sea floor, the entire food web is at risk, the researchers said. The oceanographers also discovered discolored zooplankton, which eat the food chain's primary producers – phytoplankton – near oily clouds, Subramaniam said. The full analysis of the effects to the food chain, however, will take several months.
While the deep-ocean effects are largely out of sight, the Gulf's large mammals — including whales and dolphins — were also hit hard by the oil spill. Yet the true impact may take years to uncover.
"We really don't know much about the effect of the oil spill in cetaceans, because the effects are likely to be long term," said marine mammal expert Martin Mendez of the American Museum of Natural History in New York."
http://www.livescience.com/environment/gulf-oil-spill-underwater-plumes-100921.h...
They found oil on the seafloor, evidence that it may be in the food chain, and signs that it may be hidden in large marine mammals. In spots, the "oily snow" — degraded oil and other organic material that clings to it — was up to 6 inches (15 centimeters)
"The idea that the oil is degraded and therefore doesn't matter is something we have to think about differently," Subramaniam said at a talk here today. "This is one of the first findings that showed degraded oil material collected on the seafloor."
When this gunk starts to pile up on the sea floor, the entire food web is at risk, the researchers said. The oceanographers also discovered discolored zooplankton, which eat the food chain's primary producers – phytoplankton – near oily clouds, Subramaniam said. The full analysis of the effects to the food chain, however, will take several months.
While the deep-ocean effects are largely out of sight, the Gulf's large mammals — including whales and dolphins — were also hit hard by the oil spill. Yet the true impact may take years to uncover.
"We really don't know much about the effect of the oil spill in cetaceans, because the effects are likely to be long term," said marine mammal expert Martin Mendez of the American Museum of Natural History in New York."
http://www.livescience.com/environment/gulf-oil-spill-underwater-plumes-100921.h...
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Wetdog
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How can we get this information out in front of the public?
Over 200 million gallons of crude oil doesn't "just disappear".
However, it certainly appears to me that news coverage, and governmental investigation of abuses certainly did "just disappear".
- 1 year ago
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Wetdog
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EthicalVegan
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Thank you so much for this really serious article. It pains me... and I hope many people not only read this, but then share it with their friends.
- 1 year ago
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EthicalVegan
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olddogdaddy
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as all life comes from the sea, this catastophe caused by BP/incompetent Gov't regulators, is just the beginning......of our end on this planet.
- 1 year ago
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olddogdaddy
