Most Abundant Food Source Disappearing

In oceans around the world, there has been a surprisingly large and extensive decline in phytoplankton -- the tiny algae that keep marine food webs afloat.

The drifting green flecks have been dying off for at least a century, with a staggering 40 percent decline since 1950, according to a new study.

Phytoplankton make up half of all plant matter around the globe, said marine ecologist Daniel Boyce, whose study appears this week in the journal

Nature. Its disappearance threatens the stability of climate, the well-being of fisheries and the overall health of the oceans.

"It's hard to really imagine phytoplankton could be so important because most people don't see them in their daily lives. They're microscopic and they live out at sea," said Boyce, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. "But everything that happens to them affects the entire marine food chain, including us."

Some recent satellite images have shown the ocean turning from green to blue as a result of phytoplankton declines, but those data stretch back only 13 years. Other studies have offered mixed results.

To get a more accurate picture and to look further into the past, Boyce and colleagues collected a half-million measurements of ocean clarity from a public data set that dated back to 1899.

Over the last century-plus, analyses showed, phytoplankton levels have dropped by one percent each year in eight out of 10 large ocean regions. The greatest decline occurred in areas around the poles, near the equator and in the open oceans. The rate of disappearance picked up after 1950, totaling a 40 percent drop-off since then.

"It's really big," said David Siegel, a marine scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "I'm a little leery about how big that number is."

The scientists can't yet say what's causing the mass die-off of phytoplankton, but temperature data offer a clue. The declines were worst in places where the surface of the sea has warmed the most. Warmer ocean water limits the amount of nutrients that can get from the depths to the surface. Phytoplankton need those nutrients to live.

With less phytoplankton around, fish have less to eat. As the decline works its way up the food chain, fishermen will have less to catch and fish-eaters less to eat. Phytoplankton even affect climate by taking up carbon dioxide and absorbing heat.

"Everyone looks at blue oceans and goes: 'Isn't that beautiful?'" Siegel said. "But a blue ocean is full of nothing. You really want something, and we're only making more of the blue ocean."

Source: Discovery News
http://news.discovery.com/earth/phytoplankton-oceans-food-web.htmlOcean's

100 Days in, Oil Spill Questions Still Unanswered

The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster reached the 100-day mark Wednesday with hopes high BP can finish the job, but years of legal wrangles and probes lie ahead even after the well is killed.

BP aims to start the "static kill" on Sunday or Monday, pumping heavy drilling mud and cement down through the cap at the top of the well that has sealed it for the past two weeks.

Five days later a relief well should intercept the damaged well, allowing engineers to check the success of the "static kill" and cement in the area between the drill pipe and the well bore.

The so-called "bottom kill" should finally plug the reservoir once and for all, but it will not answer how the catastrophe was allowed to occur and who is responsible.

While the last surface patches of toxic crude biodegrade rapidly in the warm waters of the Gulf, the long-term impact of what is thought to be the biggest accidental oil spill ever may not be realized for decades.

As the focus shifts to the clean-up in the marshes and beaches of the Gulf coast, so it does to the Justice Department investigation and state probes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that a team has been established to examine whether the notoriously close ties between BP and federal regulators contributed to the April 20 disaster.

The "BP squad" will also probe rig operator Transocean and Halliburton, the oil services company which had finished cementing the well only 20 hours before the rig exploded, the paper reported.

If BP needs a reminder of the long legal road ahead as it tries to rebuild its reputation, one will be provided on Thursday as lawyers at a session in Boise, Idaho set the stage for a potential trial of the century.

The proceedings will examine whether complaints from around 200 plaintiffs can be consolidated and determine where the hearings should take place and under which judge.

They will also give trial lawyers a test run for the arguments they will make during what could be years-long legal proceedings against the oil behemoths.

BP announced Tuesday it would replace gaffe-prone British CEO Tony Hayward with Bob Dudley, an American, in a bid to repair its tattered reputation.

It also posted a quarterly loss of $16.9 billion and set aside $32.2 billion to pay costs associated with the spill.

While BP has said it is the "responsible party" for the clean-up because it leased the Deepwater Horizon rig and owned the leaking Macondo well, it maintains it is not to blame for the disaster.

It has set up a $20-billion fund to pay compensation to the battered fishing, oil, and tourism industries, and must pay civil damages for each of the up to 5.2 million barrels (218.4 million gallons) spilt.

Source: Discovery News
http://news.discovery.com/earth/gulf-oil-spill-100-days.html

Chasing an Oiled Brown Pelican

Here are images of an oiled brown pelican that we chased for a short distance before capture.

At Risk: Nesting Birds & Island Rookeries

The inner waters of the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana are home to several island rookeries. Some of the smallest islands contain the greatest mix of nesting seabird species: pelicans, terns, cranes, herons, spoonbills. 

Young Roseate Spoonbills

Brown pelicans among the mangrove

Pelican chicks on the nest

Trees filled with Roseate Spoonbills

Oil & Cleanup - Bay Jimmy, Louisiana

Here are some images from near Bay Jimmy, June 20 & 21. This area is approximately 20 miles INLAND from the Gulf.

A patch of oil with oil sheen

Oiled salt marsh

Oiled shoreline, booms, and a VOO (vessel of opportunity) skimmer

VOO skimmer

 Suction trucks on a barge

Tug moving barge with suction trucks on board

Attempting to clean oiled salt marsh grasses using low-pressure water spray

Rehabilitated Brown Pelicans Relocated to Texas National Wildlife Refuge

June 24, 2010

More than 132 brown pelicans exposed to oil along the Louisiana Coast have been rehabilitated, transported on Coast Guard planes and released at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas in the past week. The refuge was picked since it meets the important coastal habitat needs of the pelicans for breeding. Other refuges along the Texas coast are being considered for more releases in the coming weeks.

Source: US Fish & Wildlife Service
http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/index.html

Oiled Shore Miles & Amount of Dispersants Used to Date

And you say you wanted to go SWIMMING this weekend?! I don't THINK so!

Amount of Dispersants Used
• Surface dispersant used: approximately 1.03 million gallons
• Subsea dispersant: more than 577,000 gallons
• Total dispersant used: approximately 1.61 million gallons

Shoreline impacted:
• approximately 423 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently oiled
• approximately 259 miles in Louisiana
• 48 miles in Mississippi, 47 miles in Alabama
• 69 miles in Florida

Source: US Fish & Wildlife Deepwater Horizon Response
http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/whatyou.html

US FWS Threat Assessment

The US Fish & Wildlife Service reports that they have 598 personnel actively engaged in response to the Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill. FWS is also reporting that there are 36 National Wildlife Refuges at risk from the BP Oil Spill (http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/refuges.html). These precious national resources are home to dozens of threatened and endangered species, including West Indian manatees, whooping cranes, Mississippi sandhill cranes, wood storks and four species of sea turtles.

Many species of wildlife face grave risk from the spill.

Birds can be exposed to oil as they float on the water or dive for fish through oil-slicked water. Oiled birds can lose the ability to fly and can ingest the oil while preening.

Sea turtles such as loggerheads and leatherbacks can be impacted as they swim to shore for nesting activities. Turtle nest eggs may be damaged if an oiled adult lies on the nest.

Oil has the potential to persist in the environment long after a spill and have long-term impacts on fish and wildlife.

For More information on the Effects of Oil on Wildlife and Habitat, see http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/pdfs/DHJICFWSOilImpactsWildlifeFactSheet.pdf

Source: US Fish & Wildlife Service
http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/index.html

Four states having set up their own websites for Gulf Oil Spill volunteers

The US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) recently provided the following information for those who wish to assist along the Gulf Coast hit by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Four states have set up their own websites for volunteers. These are:

• Louisiana: http://www.volunteerlouisiana.gov/
• Mississippi: http://www.volunteermississippi.org/1800Vol/OpenIndexAction.do
• Florida: http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/
• Alabama: http://www.servealabama.gov/2010/default.aspx


FWS Contact Information:

A toll free number has been established to report oiled or injured wildlife. To report wildlife, call (866) 557.1401. Individuals are urged not to attempt to help injured or oiled animals, but to report any sightings to the toll free number.

If you're interested in volunteering to aid in the recovery effort, call (866) 448.5816.

Reporters with questions about FWS wildlife response should contact Tom MacKenzie at (678) 296.6400 or tom_mackenzie@fws.gov. For general media questions, reporters can call the general number at 985-902-5231 for information.

Citizens with claims related to damages caused by the spill should call (800) 440.0858 for more information about filing those claims.

Adirondack scientist helps with Gulf cleanup

Harrietstown, New York - June 30, 2010 • Video of Story



Michael Martin sits in his office at Cedar Eden Environmental on Route 86 in Harrietstown. He just returned from a two week mission to the Gulf of Mexico. Martin is freshwater scientist who was hired to help with the disaster down south.

"It really makes your heart sink when you see this oil out there just floating free," Martin said.

He worked 12-hour days with several other people, rescuing waterfowl from the water and nesting islands around Grand Isle, La., about 50 miles west of the gusher on the ocean floor.

"Most of the birds were alive; they were moderately soaked but could still fly. But they would tire very easily," Martin explained. "Once we identified them we would chase them and scoop them in a net and bring them to a triage center where they would receive immediate care and then shipped to another facility for long-term rehabilitation."

Martin and his crew rescued hundred of birds during the two week stay. He recalls one mission in particular.

"I think the biggest adventure was when we found this white pelican, it was unable to fly. It tried its darndest to fly; it got its wing out, paddles its feet, but it could never get in the air," he said.

While the trip to the save birds may have been exhausting, Martin says the efforts are worth it.

"If they remain out there, even if they are lightly to moderately oil soaked, they will eventually die, either from cleaning their feathers or eventually their inability to fly," he said.

Martin hopes to return to the Gulf of Mexico in the near future to assist with the disaster cleanup.

Source: Matt Henson, WCAX Channel 3 News