Scientists can use stable isotope analysis to determine stable isotope ratios in an organism’s tissues to reconstruct food webs in oiled and non-oiled coastal environments. Specifically, they collect blood and muscle tissue samples from mid-level and higher order consumers, like sharks, to find out if there was any effect of the oil on the consumer population. As carbon isotope ratios can indicate if the shark was feeding in coastal waters verses offshore waters, one of the questions this analysis may help answer is if these consumers were able to avoid the oiled waters.
Investigating the effect of oil spills on the environment and public health.