GCRL shows off new lab

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory this week showed off its new $2 million Marine Environmental Research Lab at its Cedar Point campus. The lab has dozens of tanks where scientists can control variable like salinity, flow rate and food sources. The 6,700-square-foot facility includes a 3,700-square-foot experimental wet lab, a 3,000-square-foot analytical lab, a clean room, environmental control chambers and more than $1 million in scientific equipment. Funding came from the U.S. Department of Education grant made available to institutions of higher learning affected by Hurricane Katrina. Construction on the building began March 2008 and was completed in April 2009. (Sources: WLOX-TV, Sun Herald, 09/28/10, Mississippi Press, 09/29/10)

Pisces on two-week mission

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The NOAA ship Pisces left Pascagoula Friday for a two-week mission to collect samples around the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. A team of 15 federal and academic scientists is on board the 209-foot Pisces to collect water and sediment samples within 25 miles of the site of the oil spill. The ship’s mission to see what’s on the seafloor and the water column. The Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. The runaway well spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico until the flow was stopped July 15. (Source: Mississippi Press, 09/25/10)

Oil's impact on whale shark

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill fouled a stretch of feeding habitat for whale sharks, possibly killing some of the world's largest fish, new research suggests. Oil from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon spill, which wasn't capped until mid-July, flowed into an area south of the Mississippi River Delta, where a third of all northern Gulf of Mexico whale shark sightings have occurred in recent years. The spill came at the worst possible time at the worst location for whale sharks, said biologist Eric Hoffmayer, who studies whale sharks at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. Some of the whale sharks may have moved away to waters less impacted by the spill. (Source: National Geographic News, 09/24/10)

Runaway well finally dead

The runaway Deepwater Horizon well is finally dead. Cement pumped into the well at the start of the weekend sealed it for good. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen on Sunday said the well no longer poses a threat. It was April 20 when the BP well exploded, killing 11 workers. It spewed 206 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The flow of oil was stopped July 15 with a temporary cap, but the cementing deep below the floor of the Gulf of Mexico killed it for good. (Source: AP via Mobile Press-Register, 09/19/10)

Predatory lionfish found off Alabama, Pensacola

Lionfish have been seen off Alabama and Pensacola within the last week, posing a threat to native species. Lionfish, native to the south Pacific, apparently arrived in U.S. and Caribbean waters via the aquarium trade. Over the last dozen years, Lionfish have become established in the Bahamas and along the Atlantic Coast. Studies in the Bahamas show lionfish are reported to have eaten up to 60 percent of the native fish on coral reefs. The fish has a mane-like array of venomous spines around its body. The sting is described as painful and can cause nausea. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 09/16/10)

Oil found on gulf floor

Scientists say they are finding oil from the broken BP well well below the surface on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. Oil at least two inches thick has been found a mile under the surface. Under that oil was dead shrimp and other small animals, according to a University of Georgia researcher. Researcher Samantha Joye said they found oil as far as 80 miles from the site of the spill. (Source: AP via Sun Herald, 09/13/10)

Grant funds specimen catalogue

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory's Natural History Museum has received a $190,000 rapid response grant from the National Science Foundation to catalogue thousands of invertebrate specimens from the northern Gulf of Mexico. About 15,000 lots of specimens are involved in the project, said museum curator Sara LeCroy. She said the lab has a large collection taken about 15 years ago from the same places where more recent samples were taken. It will allow for a pre-spill and post-spill comparison. (Sources: University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi Press, 09/13/10)

Study: Microbes not depleting oxygen

Government scientists are reporting that microbes are consuming the oil in the Gulf of Mexico without depleting the oxygen in the water and creating “dead zones.” Outside scientists said this so far vindicates the decision by BP and the government to use chemical dispersants deep underwater to break up the oil. Oxygen levels in some places where the BP oil spilled are down by 20 percent, but that’s not low enough to create dead zones, according to the 95-page report released Tuesday. (Source: AP via Sun Herald, 09/07/10) NOAA news release

Cap removed from ruptured well

BP has successfully removed a temporary cap from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. The cap had initially sealed the well July 15. The next step is to remove the damaged blowout preventer and replace it with a new one. Then a relief well will be completed and the ruptured well will be permanently sealed with mud and cement. The Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and dumping 206 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The damaged blowout preventer will be taken to NASA's Michoud facility in New Orleans for forensic study by the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which are jointly investigating the disaster. (Sources: USA Today, Reuters, 09/02/10) Meanwhile, NOAA reopened 5,130 square miles of Gulf waters stretching from the far eastern coast of Louisiana, through Mississippi, Alabama, and the western Florida panhandle. The closed area now measures 43,000 square miles, 18 percent of the federal waters in the Gulf. At the height of the spill, 37 percent was closed. In another well-related incident, there was a fire aboard the Mariner Energy production platform in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday. There were no fatalities and apparently no oil leak.

NSF awards two grants

The National Science Foundation is awarding a Mississippi State University assistant professor almost $200,000 in rapid response funding to study the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impact on Louisiana salt marshes. Deepak Mishra's project is assessing overall salt marsh health and productivity by comparing pre- and post-spill satellite images. Mishra says the maps and tools developed during the one-year study will aid coastal managers in Louisiana as they evaluate and prioritize the large-scale marsh restoration efforts. (Source: MSU, 08/31/10) In another NSF rapid response grant, a University of Alabama molecular biologist was awarded $110,000 to study tiny, transparent animals that live in Gulf Coast waters. Matthew Jenny, an assistant professor of biological sciences at UA, will study sea anemones, small animals related to the corals that build ocean reefs. Jenny, working in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will collect anemones from coastal waters of Alabama to Louisiana. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/27/10)