It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Dr. John Elliot Reynolds passed away on Saturday, December 23, 2017. One of Reynolds many roles was co-Principal Investigator with the Center for the Integrated Modeling and Analysis of Gulf Ecosystems (C-IMAGE) funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) conducting marine life impact studies after the Deepwater Horizon incident.
Researchers developed the first transcriptomic database for mahi-mahi embryos and larvae exposed to oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident. The team assembled over 60,000 transcripts, identified over 30,000 gene sequences, and observed 2,345 genes that differed significantly after exposure to weathered oil.
Kendal Leftwich conducts acoustic research assessing how northern Gulf of Mexico dolphin populations changed and recovered over time to help researchers better understand the health of dolphin species living in affected areas.
The Smithsonian recently published an article about how researchers are using sound or echolocation to learn more about the elusive beaked whale. Some of these whales live and forage in the vicinity where the Deepwater Horizon incident happened, and researchers are monitoring their numbers and location to learn how the oil spill may have affected their populations.
What are deep-sea corals? Why are researchers conducting studies on their health? What type of equipment do scientists use to conduct research at the deep ocean seafloor?
Alabama researchers measured the nitrogen removal capacity of marsh sediments and compared it to sediments from subtidal unvegetated mudflats, which are what the marsh becomes when it erodes.
Researchers in Florida and Louisiana extended a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) of fiddler crabs and periwinkle snails after the Deepwater Horizon incident to assess marsh recovery from oiling. The team found that fiddler crabs, the more mobile of the two species, had mostly recovered by 30 months in terms of size, density, and species composition.
Researchers used naturally occurring radioisotopes to quantify the footprint of sedimented marine oil snow on the Gulf of Mexico seafloor following the Deepwater Horizon incident.
The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is pleased to announce a new Sea Grant publication that addresses the public’s questions about health safety after the Deepwater Horizon incident. The fact sheet, Is it Safe? Examining Health Risks from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill succinctly explains findings from peer-reviewed studies and reports from state and federal agencies that investigated the safety of the beach, water, and seafood since the spill.
Seaside Sparrows live and forage in coastal Gulf of Mexico marshlands, some of which were oiled following the Deepwater Horizon incident. Sparrows in these oiled marshes likely ingested invertebrates that were also exposed to oil. Allison Snider uses DNA analyses to investigate potential long-term changes in the diets of Seaside Sparrows following Deepwater Horizon.