Posted: Mon 06/14/10 3:20 pm Post subject: Gulf Oil Crisis: The Circle Of Life And Oil Toxicity UPDATE
June 15, 2010 (Footnotes to references are denoted in red) (see 6/19/2010 update below)
A few weeks ago, I called Travis Holeman, who fishes and guides in Louisiana. I had been in correspondence with him concerning the Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and its impact on fishing and the economy in Louisiana. Thank you, Travis, for taking the time to speak with me.
Among the topics that we discussed was the far-reaching effect of the oil spill on gamefish and the fact that the spill may have a huge impact on Tarpon in Monroe County, Florida (the Everglades/Keys). After our conversation, I felt the need to look into this a little more. What I present here is the direct outcome of my research, spurred on by my conversation with Travis.
In preparing a previous post, it became clear than larvae and juvenile fish are quite sensitive to crude oil spills and their effects either floating on the surface or dissolved in the water column. (While I am trained as a biological scientist [physiology and biophysics] I am not an ecologist, but I feel relatively qualified to interpret the literature.) I chose to look into the life cycles of what I believe is the food chain for our targeted species in the bayous, marshes, and everglades that may be affected by the oil spill. I looked into this for my own interests; but, I chose to present my findings here since I believe that others may learn from this as well.
In the most general of terms, all saltwater species spend a portion of their lives as plankton. For baitfish and other food sources, plankton is a food source. Thus, other species are exposed to decreased availability of plankton or to toxicity carried by plankton. Gamefish additionally have baitfish and other food sources as their food sources and as such are subjected to the oil spills effects by loss of plankton or toxic effects on baitfish and other food sources in addition to any effects experienced by fish that are exposed directly to the oil spill.
Plankton
At the base of the food chain is plankton. While few of our targeted species survive entirely on consumption of plankton, most rely upon plankton consumption during their early development and then, as more mature fish, rely upon consumption of other animals that consume plankton as their main food source. Plankton comprises single cell and multicellular organisms that are suspended in the water column but have virtually no ability to locomote (swim) on their own (no more than 1 knot). Hence, plankton drifts in currents, going where the water goes. There are two general classes of plankton: phytoplankton (plant plankton) and zooplankton (animal plankton).
Phytoplankton is made up of unicellular plants; diatoms and dinoflagellates that change inorganic nutrients into oxygen by way of photosynthesis. It is estimated that 75-85 percent of the oxygen on earth is evolved photosynthetically by phytoplankton.1
Zooplankton are animal plankton. Meroplankton are the eggs and larval forms of organisms found in the coastal water. (These plankton include the species that we love to target in our fishing adventures.) As these developing forms mature they either settle to the bottom or migrate to other locations. Holoplanktons are animal planktons that spend their entire life floating in the open ocean.2
Planktonic stages (developmental stages of the meroplankton) of many fish are quite susceptible to the deleterious effects of crude oil and its included toxins. Therefore, the location and timing of spawning will greatly impact the extent of the effects of the oil spill on these species. In the subsequent paragraphs, I will present information that might allow us to gain some perspective into the extent of the oil spill on the species that we are interested in preserving.2
Baitfish
Baitfish and other Food Sources (Crustaceans and Mollusks) subsist largely on plankton and smaller fish that subsist on plankton. So the plankton, the base of the food chain, is quite vulnerable to the oil spill but also helps to distribute the toxicity of the oil spill to others higher in the food chain even when the baitfish are not in planktonic stages. I will outline a very incomplete list of baitfish to indicate that baitfish spawning results in plankton stages both offshore and along the coast.
Some Baitfish Spawn in Deep Waters
Mullet (typical of many baitfish) live mostly in marshes and estuaries where they feed on algae microorganisms and detritus in the sand and mud that they consume. They spawn in open water between October and January. They stage at mouths of estuaries prior to the 50-60 mile massive run offshore.3
Some Baitfish Spawn near the Junction of the Marsh and Deep Water
Menhaden spawn in the fall and winter near the mouths of estuaries.4
Other Food Sources for Gamefish
Other species that are important as food sources for gamefish are crustaceans and mollusks. These species feed largely on plankton and detritus near the bottom of the water column.
Some Other Food Sources Spawn in Deep Waters
Shrimp - Adults live in open water. When water temperatures rise they spawn in deep water. Eggs float to surface and are food for plankton. Spawning of brown shrimp occurs between April and May and then between September and November. White shrimp spawn 2-3 times during the spring and summer. Shrimp remain suspended for 2-3 weeks as Nauplius and Protozoeia larvae in open water – eating plankton. Mysis larvae (after the other two stages) avoid light attempting to go deeper in the water column. Postlarvae distributed by water currents and wind into brackish water (marshes) begin growing legs and settle at the bottom eating plant detritus. At this stage, juveniles grow larger and particpate as both prey and predator.5
Some Other Food Sources Spawn near the Junction of the Marsh and Deep Water
Crabs – blue crabs mate in summer through the fall. Females mate in estuarine waters and travel to nearshore waters to release their eggs. Fertilized eggs/embryos remain attached to the mother until they hatch. Newly hatched larvae (zoea) are carried inshore by currents and wind and end up settling in marshes where they mature and grow for nearly a year.6
Some Other Food Sources Spawn in the Marshes
Clams – (Cherrystone (small) Quohog (large = strips at Howard Johnson’s) spawn during the spring, summer, and fall when water temperatures rise above 79o F (26o C), Spawning occurs in their normal habitat (they don’t migrate). Fertilization occurs externally (outside the body – in the seawater) and stay suspended as plankton for 6-10 days until the larval forms settle (with beginnings of shell formation) In 24 -36 months they reach optimum size for harvesting as food (for humans).7
Oysters – spawn when water temp is consistently above 20o and then rises above 25oC. March – November with peak of spawning in May June. Eggs hatch 6 hours after fertilization. Larvae remain planktonic (in water column) for 2-3 weeks prior to settling. Upon settling, they move around in search of a good place to attach. One attached, they stay put. So spawning is in place. Planktonic stage wherever the currents take them.8
Note that shrimp, crabs, clams and oysters also represent a major portion of the commercial fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Hence, damage to these precious resources while impacting our prized gamefish, also impacts the commercial fishing industry and thereby affects the economy of the States bordering the Gulf of Mexico.
Gamefish
Some of the zooplankton survive by feasting on other plankton as they grow to stages that will become species that we know and love. All of the gamefish species that we seek in our fishing adventures spend a portion of their lives as zooplankton adrift in the water column. The planktonic stages are during these species’ development from a unicellular fertilized egg (zygote) and throughout the larval stage(s) of development. Different species spend their planktonic stages in different regions of the gulf, predominantly determined by the site(s) where their parents spawn. In contast to our beautiful anadromous species (salmonids – that spawn way upstream in pristine waters), most of our favorite saltwater finned species spawn deep in the open ocean (the ocean tends to be quite pristine – the further one goes from man’s realm on solid ground). In the next few sections, I will overview the life cycles of several species of interest to us as gamefishers.
Some Gamefish Spawn in Deep Waters
Bonefish spawn in open water between Nov and May. No one is certain of the locality. Larvae spend roughly 42 – 72 days as plankton after which the larvae settle in shallow water. Thereafter, they remain as bottom inhabitants. 9 Could bonefish spawning grounds be afftected by the migrating oil spill?
Permit spawn in the late spring to early summer in deeper water near reef promontories. The larvae spend 15 – 18 days as oceanic plankton. Larvae settle on shallow sandy habitat, where they tend to spend the rest of their lives apart from spawnin. Permit can liver as long as 23 years! 10
Tarpon spawn in deep water during the late spring through summer. As with bonefish, it is not clear what locality, although it is believed that they spawn in the open ocean, up to 400’ deep. Tarpon are thought to spawn near the time of the full moon or new moon. Tracking of tarpon migration has shown that they migrate to the open ocean prior to full/new moon. Travis Holeman commented that the oil spill is in the middle of tarpon spawning grounds! Tarpon have a month-long larval stage in the open ocean. After larval migration to shallow water, juveniles habitate shallow water marshy areas. Juveniles can utilize oxygen gulped from the air that enters their swim bladders. Hence they can get oxygen in mucky mangroves where predators can’t get oxygen from the water! Adults can reach over the age of 80 years!11
Sheepshead spawn offshore but near to the coast during February, March and April. Sheepshead spawning outside the Louisiana bayou may have just missed the devastation of the oil spill this year. These fish survive up to 20 years, reaching ~ 4-6 lb live mostly in Marshes – eat mollusks (clams, oyster, mussels), barnacles, worms, and fish (anchovies).12
Some Gamefish Spawn near the Junction of the Marsh and Deep Water
Drum (Redfish and Black Drum) mate in August – October (Redfish)13 or January to April (Black Drum) in high saliity water with high tidal flow (in passes from the estuaries to the open ocean). Large schools of males congregate in these regions awaiting an occasional female when she is ready to spawn. Larvae suspended as plankton eventually migrate into the marshes with the tidal flow. Tend to stay inshore (marshes) up to 10 pounds then move out to open water when larger. (10 -30 pounds in open water). Redfish can live as long as 40 years. 14 Black Drum are estimated to live for up to 40 -58 years.15 The redfish and black drum spawn and their early planktonic stages are likely to be greatly affected by the oil spill in the Louisiana, Mississippi (note update/correction dated 6/30/2010 below), Alabama and Florida coastlines.
Table 1: Spawning Times and Locations and
Risk of Planktonic Harm from Deepwater Horizon Spill
Species (common name) Spawn time Location At risk?
_______________ _________ __________ ______
Mullet Oct - Jan Open ocean ?
Menhaden Fall - Winter Coastal ?
Shrimp (brown) Apr – Nov Open ocean YES
Shrimp (white) Spring-Summer Open ocean YES
Crabs Summer – Fall Coastal YES
Clams Spring – Fall Inshore YES
Oysters Mar - Nov Inshore YES
Bonefish Nov – May Open Ocean ?
Permit Spring - Summer Offshore ?
Tarpon Late Spr - Sum Open Ocean YES
Sheepshead Feb - Apr Open Ocean ?
Redfish Aug – Oct Coastal YES
Black Drum Jan - Apr Coastal ?
Assessment of risk to species is outlined in Table 1. Species are considered at risk if the oil spill has encroached areas suspected to be spawning areas for the species at times with the spawn has led to or will lead to exposure of planktonic stages to the oil. Assessment is based predominantly on our knowledge of the extent of the oil spill, at present, and the anticipation that oil will continue to flow from the well until August, 2010. Oil has encroached the coastal waters near Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida (near Pensacola). As the spill progresses eastward, its introduction to the loop current becomes more imminent. I anticipate that more widespread distribution of crude oil via the loop current may introduce toxins to the entire West Coast of Florida and into Florida Bay and the Everglades. As the spill persists longer and longer, the number of spawning species affected by the spill will increase.
In summary, the continued flow of oil from the Deepwater Horizon well into the Gulf of Mexico has led to devastation to several fish species by toxic effects to the planktonic larval stages of these fish. The extent of the damage remains to be fully revealed.
Posted: Sat 06/19/10 6:39 am Post subject: An update
6/19/2010
Yesterday, Holeman Brothers (I believe it was Travis) on Facebook(1) posted a link to Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecast Service. (I include ROFFS' information here in order to credit them for the posted information: WWW.ROFFS.COM - (321) 723-5759 // EMAIL: FISH7@ROFFS.COM ). If I am interpreting ROFFS' information (2,3) correctly, oil mixed in the water is present in the Gulf of Mexico extending as far south as Fort Myers, FL (although offshore). (I also believe that the graphics indicate oil in the water due west of Key West, FL on June 8 and June 15, 2010. This would indicate that oil is IN THE GULF STREAM!). ROFFS states that their satellite information is confirmed by water testing leading me to believe that this site is credible.
Why is this information important?
1) Oil is in the water extending as far south as Fort Myers... I believe that this oil distribution mirrors the dropoff of the continental shelf along the west coast of Florida... the deepwater spawning grounds for Florida Tarpon as well as other deepwater spawners from Florida. (Note that this distibution is NOT limited to the oil slick floating on the surface! I will provide a gratutitous reference to my previous post on this site about oil spills in water and toxicity to fish (4)). Therefore, the sensitive planktonic larval stages of fish spawning in this oil-laden water will be subjected to toxicity of the spilled oil.
2) Identification of oil in the water west of Key West indicates distribution to the Gulf Stream and assures that oil will be moving East to the Florida Keys, to Miami and eventually to the Southeast Coast of the entire US.
Perhaps, I am a little too much like Chicken Little, but I believe that this provides some rather dire and forboding news about the distribution of the oil. I pray that I am wrong!
Please, stop focusing on who to blame and how much money we can get from them... Let's focus on fixing the problem!
I must submit this correction. Prior to 6/29/2010, the oil slick had not been reported to reach the coastline of the State of Mississippi. I apologize for my misleading implication in the 6/15/2010 report, above. However, on 6/29/2010, I heard radio reports that tar and oil invaded the marshes and beaches of the State of Mississippi.
Thank you for taking the time and putting in the effort to keep us all informed of this issue. Its nice to not have to rely on the big media outlets and spend time disseminating information to get to the truth. I believe you are a scientist by trade? Perhaps if you have a second, you could tell us exactly what your background is? Either way, we appreciate your efforts and your willingness to take initiative on this topic back in April of 2010. What are your thoughts on the situation as of right now? Could you perhaps give us a synopsis on what you see as the most likely outcome of this issue - looking 3 months into the future? Thank you again for being the point man on this. Much appreciated. Is there anything that any of us can do?
Thanks for allowing me to voice my thoughts so freely on this site.
What is my background? Yes, I consider myself a scientist. I was awarded a Ph.D. in physiology in the Zoology Department (now Biology) at the University of Maryland in College Park. My research for my graduate dissertation focused on sperm-egg interactions and egg activation during in vitro fertilization of rabbit eggs. I trained for an additional eight years at the University of Miami School of Medicine in the Physiology and Biophysics Department. My postdoctoral research focused further on sperm-egg interactions and sperm entry using sea urchin eggs. We collected sea urchins from the beaches near Miami but travelled out to the nearby Gulf Stream to collect clean, consistent sea water for use in our experiments. Since 1991, I have been involved in more clinical pursuits as the director of a human in vitro fertilization laboratory (making test-tube babies).
What are my thoughts? My thoughts on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico are mixed and complex. My most immediate thoughts are those of disappointment at the ecological disaster that is occurring in the Gulf.
My emotions… I have tried to learn about how the spill might impact fish in the Gulf of Mexico and its neighboring bayous and marshes. I am immensely saddened by the inability to stop the flow of oil from the uncapped well; but, I believe that BP has rightly admitted that it is responsible for the actions that led to this disaster.
I actually think that BP is doing the best that it can to stop the crude oil/methane from spewing out of the well. (Afterall, it has nothing to gain by prolonging the crude oil accumulation in the Gulf).
I believe that the US government is really not equipped to fix the problem and that BP is the Party best suited to stop the flow. I am angered by the bickering back and forth about what the government should have done or could have done sooner. While the Federal government has deep pockets, I have mixed feelings about the lack of effective oversight versus the cost of adequate regulatory oversight that might have been capable of precluding the disaster.
My thoughts about how to stop the flow… I believe that the only reliable method to stop the flow of crude is the drilling operation that is anticipated to inject concrete into the well from inside to plug the leak. I applaud BP for initiating the drilling operation first, before embarking on the untried, unproven and so far unsuccessful blunders. I also applaud BP for trying all of these alternatives and I believe that these alternative methods failed because of the extreme nature of the problem: huge flow rates, over a mile deep in the ocean. I firmly believe that this crude flow is so difficult to halt that it will not be halted by any of these last ditch efforts.
Regarding the general dissatisfaction with Tony Hayward’s departure to spend a day on his boat watching a regatta… It may have been a PR disaster for him. I truly believe that efforts to deal with the spill in the Gulf were not hampered by his absence. He wasn’t cleaning the spill. He wasn’t drilling the new well shafts. He probably isn’t qualified to do anything of significance on his own to stop the leak or help with the clean-up. His role was one of assigning tasks and making decisions…. Both things that can be performed from a distance. The griping about his break from the vigil of the disaster was a ridiculous waste of emotions that would have been better devoted to doing something constructive to help the clean-up effort or support the efforts to stop the flow.
Concerning the future... My “crystal ball” indicates that the spill will continue at least into August and likely beyond, since I believe that precise positioning of the drills to plug the leak is unlikely to be satisfactory on the first attempt. I think we should anticipate several attempts prior to successful plugging of the well shaft.
The bad news Oil will continue to spew for several more months. Accompanying the spill will be all the adjuvant devastation that accompanies the spill. Unprecendented oil slicks will migrate in the Gulf of Mexico. The surface area covered by oil will continue to increase in size. The churning of Hurricane Alex, as I wrote an early draft of this, reminded me that tropical storms will have major influences on the oil. Firstly, the storms will create waves making it even more difficult to contain the oil slick on the surface. Wind and waves will likely hamper attempts to contain or collect the oil on the surface. Winds will help to push the surface oil into marshes and bayous bordering the Gulf. Encroachment of oil into the marshes may be devastating for invertebrates and finned fish that spawn near the marshes (see my earlier post -http://www.fliesandfins.com/postt1983.html) However, the wind and waves associated with tropical storms will tend to disperse the oil incorporating it and its toxicity more deeply in the water column. This could have deleterious effects on finned fish and on bottom-dwellers that spawn in deepwater.
The good news. Alternatively, and somewhat uplifting, the longer the oil stays at the surface, the more it decomposes and becomes less toxic. Hence, the avoidance of landfall for prolonged periods may help to save the shorebirds and marsh grasses from serious harm. It is not clear to me whether oil and toxicants mixed deeply in the water column decompose more or less quickly since the deeper toxicants are less exposed to light.
Projection: I anticipate that the Gulf Stream will begin to distribute remnants of the spill to the East Coast of Florida and the SouthEast Coast of the US. Now on rework of the draft, NOAA is posting a projection that is more scientific than my thoughts:
NOAA projects that the spill has an 80% chance of reaching the East Coast of South Florida and the Florida Keys. However, I also believe that the toxicant levels will be much lower by the time the spill is detected beyond the Florida Keys. This will be, in part, due to the above stated decomposition and evaporation with time, and additionally due to dilution as the slick distributes over more and more seawater. I anticipate that tar balls will be the main observable contaminant that reaches the East Coast. I suspect that the floating brown-red sludge will be less and less prevalent both with time and distance that the slick travels from its Deepwater Horizon origin.
What can we do? I believe that it is becoming more and more difficult to find a constructive way to help prevent the problem from becoming larger. BP is probably most the most capable of solving this. While the damage to fish and shore wildlife is not necessarily completed it is already determined and predestined by the size of the spill and mother nature’s guidance. Despite the spills upcoming effects, the economic disaster continues to worsen.
1. Stay up-to-date with the facts: If you wish to stay up-to-date with the crisis, I encourage you to visit Holeman Brothers Wall on Facebook. Travis is posting links, daily, to informational sources that help me to keep up-to-date.
2. Donate money: I recently appended a few places to the list of ways that an individual can help with the crisis. (http://www.fliesandfins.com/postt1982.html) Most of the new additions were organizations (near the bottom) that are focusing on helping the people who are suffering from the economic disaster.
3. Rethink your vacation plans: News agencies are reporting huge decreases in tourism in the Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida panhandle beaches. If you are able (in this sputtering economy) to travel on vacation, these sites are largely safe and there are huge efforts to maintain the beaches clean. These areas may actually have depressed prices. So I encourage you to visit the Gulf Coast on vacation the help infuse money into the area.
Last edited by AvidDavid on Sat 07/17/10 7:34 am; edited 1 time in total
It has now been EIGHTY (80) days since this disaster began.
Is the end in site?
I suspect that the oil flow may stop in a few months (so we may be only half-way to the end of flow!) but the ramifications are destined to be prolonged for a L O N G time...
Posted: Sat 07/17/10 7:31 am Post subject: 88 days and the flow may be Halted!
Retraction/Correction #2:
Yesterday, July 16, 2010, there were reports that the flow of crude oil and methane from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Well had been stopped by BP's latest capping attempts. Valves to stop the flow were slowly closed while examining for signs of leakage. So far with the valves completely closed, no leakage has been seen, although the pressure in the cap is not as high as the experts had hoped (to reveal a seal with no leaks back inside the system that could erupt through the ocean floor, I suppose).
Note that this stoppage (after 88 days of nearly continuous spillage) is well ahead of BP's schedule for internal sealing through the use of the relief wells. It is also several months ahead of my personal prediction. It seems that I was a bit too pessimistic. I am happy to have been wrong!
However, the stoppage of the continuous spillage does NOT mean that the disaster is over! We can now focus on the next phases of the disaster:
1) clean-up of already spilled oil and oil byproducts (one of the largest oil spills ever on earth)(The ECOLOGICAL DISASTER) - I have seen reports of oil products on the East Coast of Florida and near the Yucatan penisula! For reasons unknown to me, these reports have not been widely circulated by the press!, and
2) dealing with the economic impact on the people of the Gulf Coast who have suffered from the oil spills direct effects on sealife and fisheries and associated indirect effects on gulf coast ancillary services to the fishing industry and to tourism (The ECONOMIC DISASTER). Note that while BP promises to make everything right, there is no way that they will be capable of infusing enough money to bring the local economy back to life!
Correct me if I am wrong, but, there is still sport fishing available in the region! Guides can help you find safe, open waters with fish. The beaches are intensively cleaned so that they are relatively pristine. It is still possible to vacation in the region. This may be the best (win - win) way to infuse your money into the economy of the region since you will incur direct benefits from your spending and will derive indirect benefits by contibuting to the local economy.
Please Help!
for a list of ways to help see earlier updated post:
http://www.fliesandfins.com/postt1982.html
Posted: Mon 07/19/10 6:23 am Post subject: More problems!
7/19/2010 - Well... now it seems that the capped well is leaking, seeping under (or through) the sea floor. Will the plugging by the relief well solve the problem or just lead to more leaking? Hmmm....
Thanks again for keep us all up to date on this issue. As "simple" as the problem seems eg:
problem: oil is leaking
solution: stop it
It seems that there is so much banter and blame on the major news outlets etc.. that it is very difficult to get a clear perspective on where the issue stands. Thanks for keeping us up to date and for keeping the information you provide us, factual and clear as possible. So, are you saying that the "oil is still seeping below?" or is the cap stopping all of the leakage? Could the cap be the final solution? Or is the cap definitively only a temporary fix? From what I am able to gather it sounds like
1. The cap is working (thank god!)
2. Its a crap shoot as to whether the cap will hold until the relief wells are finished sometime in August.
Maybe you could clarify and "simplify" these points, if you have a moment. I was a bit confused with "now it seems that the capped well is leaking, seeping under (or through) the sea floor." I was under the impression that the cap was stopping all of the leakage?
Simple Answers - The cap is holding. There is no leakage from the cap. The cap was intended as a temporary solution with capability to continue to collect crude oil from the well (without leakage) until the well is sealed (by pumping mud/concrete into the shaft from inside. This final sealing will be performed via the relief wells that BP began drilling shortly after the explosion. I believe that these wells are very close to their target positions!
Less Simple Answers - There has been some seepage from the sea floor within 2 miles of the well shaft. It is now concluded that this seepage has nothing to do with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Well shaft. However, at the time that the cap was placed on the well and then slowly closed, engineers were closely monitoring the pressure built up in the shaft. High pressure would indicate a tight seal. Low pressure would indicate that the well was not sealed (incapable of maintaining pressure) and hence was leaking.
The pressures achieved intermediate values leading to unclear interpretation. Hence the search was on... for small leaks and seepage points. Seepage was found. I believe that crude oil was found slowly seeping through the sea floor "within 2 miles of the well" and many jumped to conclusions. Now, I suppose that either the seepage is from a leaky shaft - or - it is typical to have some seepage of crude oil from the bottom of the ocean (at least in the vicinity of hundreds of present and former oil wells!). The current feeling is that the seepage is far enough from the Deepwater Horizon well that it is thought not to be associated with it. Hence the interpretation is that the cap is working. (In turn, this much seepage is considered acceptable and normal... perhaps this is why we found tar balls on the beaches of Key Biscayne when I lived in Miami in the early 1980's. Maybe this has been happening... forever?)
It is interesting to consider how much crude has spilled and that BP considered that it was not economically appropriate to continue to collect this oil from this well in favor of moving the rig to a new location. I guess that if the blowout preventer on a "good" well failed, we would see even more rapid release of oil and an even more monumental spill!
A list of guides who are still guiding in the Gulf Coast Regions that have been impacted by the oil spill has been started at:
http://www.fliesandfins.com/postt2054.html
Please peruse the list, consider these guides for trips to the region and add to the list if you are a guide in the region or know a guide active in the region.
Thanks for your interest and help! Let's see what fliesandfins.com's crew members can do to help the region regain its former glory! (Apparently, the fish haven't been reading the news...)
Today, the television and radio were filled with the news that BP had plugged the Deepwater Horizon Well with mud, completing the "top kill." The well shaft was filled with dense drilling mud to stop any flow of crude oil from the well, effectively sealing the well shut. This sealing operation has, in oil rig terminology, "killed" the well. There should be no more leakage from the well that created the largest oil spill in history.
After the oil leakage was halted several days ago by the cap, the amount of oil remaining on the surface has decreased due to burning, skimming and due to natural means (evaporation, dispersion by wave action) and by the use of chemical dispersants. The disappearance of the oil slick from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is leading to a decreased sense of urgency, whether this is appropriate or not. Certainly, the birds and bayous will be less likely to be affected when the oil is not on the surface; however, the toxic effects of dissolved and dispersed oil and oil byproducts remains to be understood. The federal government has estimated that only 1/4 of the spilled oil remains on the surface. One quarter of the spilled oil still amounts to one of the largest oil spills in history!
Economic impact of the crisis on the people and businesses in the Gulf Coast regions is dependent upon the actual effects on sealife to some degree; but also it is likely to be impacted by public opinion. The effects of toxic oil may be less prevalent than the fear that the oil spill may contaminate seafood. So far, seafood has been largely untainted. It will be interesting to see how much seafood is available in coming months as the fishing bans are lifted. Will the catches be down in volume? due to toxicity or will the volumes be stable?
So, today provided good news, but we must be diligent to determine what the long term effects of the spill will be.
I heard, yesterday, that BP has declared the Deepwater Horizon Oil Well officially sealed for good! This is great news (although the flow had been stopped for some weeks!)
We must continue to realize that the halt of the oil flow does not mean that the effects of the oil that spilled no longer exist. In fact, there have been reports that much of the oil that had "dissappeared" may be lying on the bottom of the Gulf. Therefore, we must diligently keep on the lookout for toxic effects of the oil on fish and invertebrates in the Gulf.
Things are looking up; but, if the Exxon Valdez disaster is any lesson for us, the recovery of the Gulf will require more than a decade. Luckily, there is a lot of Gulf of Mexico and there were many bayous West of the Mississippi River that were affected only minimally compared to those East of the Mississippi. Fishing reports have been better than I expected and fishermen familiar with the region are able to find fish to catch. Only time will reveal to us the extent of the damage to the ecosystem, especially to the sensitive bottom dwellers that feed many of our desired finned fish.
In addition, the second tragedy of the Gulf Oil Spill continues. People in the region continue to experience economic depression throughout the Gulf Coast region. The slow economic recovery that is sputtering world-wide is little help for those people who are suffering in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. We must keep the people of the region in our hearts and prayers.
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