Monthly Archives: October 2017
The Sea Grant Oil Spill Outreach Team released an informational brochure just in time for the summer boating season. The one-page guide gives boaters information on how to prepare for, respond to, and report an accidental oil or fuel spill on their vessels. A Boater’s Guide to Handling Oil and Fuel Spills, which is available Read More
Meiofauna provide important ecosystem services such as waste removal to the deep sea-floor environment and can act as indicators of ecosystem health. Because meiofauna live a largely sedentary life due to their small size and sediment habitat, they are often unable to escape an area affected by unusual disturbances, such as the Deepwater Horizon incident. Melissa Rohal is Read More
Laser light and high-speed cameras can help researchers observe the behavior of oil droplets within a laboratory-simulated oil plume and interpret how the oil subsequently may move through the water column. Xinzhi Xue uses lasers to non-invasively probe inside the oil plume and get a detailed look at the oil fragmentation process. “This knowledge is crucial Read More
Greenhead horse fly larvae are the top invertebrate predator in the Spartinamarshes along the Gulf of Mexico coastline. Adult and larval horseflies exhibited reduced genetic variation and population declines in oiled marshes after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which suggests that these organisms could be an indicator species for post-spill marsh health. Devika Bhalerao uses DNA analyses to identify organisms Read More