2019 – Page 6 – Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative

University of North Texas Associate Professor of Biology Dane Crossley (white shirt) and his graduate student Derek Nelson (a GoMRI Scholar) review cardiovascular data of oil-exposed early-life-stage fish. Credit Daniel DiNicola RECOVER consortium.

Study Finds Oil Exposure Reduces Cardiorespiratory Function in Cobia Fish

July 16, 2019

Researchers conducted swim tests on Gulf of Mexico Cobia fish to investigate potential impacts from oil exposure.

Professor Joel Kostka, Georgia Institute of Technology, was elected as a 2019 American Academy of Microbiology Fellow. Photo provided by Kostka.

Joel Kostka Elected American Academy of Microbiology Fellow

July 11, 2019

The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) congratulates Dr. Joel Kostka on his election as a 2019 American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) Fellow.

Study Improves Drifter-Based Estimates of Near-Surface Ocean Currents

July 10, 2019

Scientists developed a new approach to improve near-surface (15 meters depth) ocean circulation estimations derived from drogued and undrogued drifters (drogues extend below the surface, providing stability) used in the NOAA Global Drifter Program.

A male fiddler crab (Uca panacea) sits inside an experimental mesocosm that investigated crude oil impacts. Credit: M.E. Franco, University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

Study Finds Oil Impacts on Fiddler Crabs May Also Affect Broader Marsh Health

July 2, 2019

Scientists conducted mesocosm experiments to explore how crude oil affects marsh-dwelling fiddler crabs, classified as ecosystem engineers or bioturbators. The researchers tested impacts of various oil concentrations to mimic light (L) to heavy (H) oiling scenarios, with fiddler crabs experiencing more acute impacts at higher oil concentrations and less at lower concentrations.

Sydney Niles holds a jacketed beaker containing Macondo oil on water after photo-irradiation in the Atlas solar simulator (right). (Photo credit: Stephen Bilenky)

How Grad Student Niles Gets to Know Crude Oil at a Molecular Level

June 27, 2019

When an oil slick is exposed to sunlight, photo-oxidation processes break the oil down and incorporate oxygen into the petroleum molecules.

This study observed phytoplankton changes in response to oil spill exposure. These phytoplankton photos were taken under a microscope in control (left, no oil) and DCEWAF (right, dispersed oil) tanks. In control tanks, many kinds of phytoplankton were observed such as Stephanopyxis (top left) and Skeletonema (bottom left). In the DCEWAF tanks, there were fewer phytoplankton cells and more heterotrophic microbes (not photosynthetic). Photo credit: Breanna Couffer.

Study Finds Dispersed Oil, But Not Oil Alone, Negatively Affects Phytoplankton

June 25, 2019

Scientists conducted mesocosm experiments to examine how oil and chemically-dispersed oil affect Gulf of Mexico phytoplankton. Exposure to oil alone did not impair phytoplankton growth or their photosynthesis ability, nor did it significantly change the community’s diversity.

Guillaume Novelli (L) releases a Phatom 4 pro drone from the RV Walton Smith while Cedric Guigand (R) operates the flight controls during the CARTHE SPLASH experiment. High-resolution cameras on the drone collected aerial observations of floating bamboo drift plates and fast-evolving fronts at 1 meter – 200 meters scales. Photo by Tamay Ozgokmen, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Smithsonian Highlights Technology that Tracks the Ocean’s Flow

June 20, 2019

Many factors affect how the ocean moves, and it is especially difficult to know exactly how it will behave in a specific area, as was evident with challenges in predicting oil transport during Deepwater Horizon.