[Coral-List] Active mortality event at Flower Garden Banks

Fri Jul 29 19:12:16 EDT 2016

Good Day All,

This is an interesting event.  I noted earlier that I was on the EFGB two
weeks ago and there was no evidence of anything amis.  As G. Challenger
points out, there has been no evidence that Macondo contaminants have come
close to the FGBNMS.  Antidotal evidence suggests that freshwater outflow
from floods in the Atchafalaya Basin have reaching the FGBNMS for most of
the summer.  As described by FGNMSB staff, it is easy to imagine a bucket of
toxic materials being opened and slowly dispersing with the currents.  A
puzzle with potentially disastrous outcomes. 

Q

Quenton Dokken, Ph.D.
President/CEO
Gulf of Mexico Foundation, Inc.
qdokken at gulfmex.org
361-442-6064 c
361.882.3939 c
361.882.1262 f
www.gulfmex.org

-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Greg Challenger
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2016 4:08 PM
To: Adriana Leiva <adrianaleiva at hotmail.com>
Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Active mortality event at Flower Garden Banks

A starting point

http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/education/oilspill.html

To date, there have been no visible signs of oil from the Deepwater Horizon
oil spill anywhere in the sanctuary. However, sanctuary staff did
participate in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process so that
any future impacts could be addressed.

Thankfully, sanctuary resources have been part of long-term monitoring
studies for many years, which means that we already have good data about the
health of the sanctuary prior to the Deepwater Horizon event. This is being
incorporated into the NRDA process. 

>From July 2010 to March 2011 we placed Semi-Permeable Membrane Devices
(SPMDs) at all three sanctuary banks, and nearby Sonnier Bank, to check for
the presence of hydrocarbon-related substances in the water. Two different
types of SPMD were used at each location, which allowed us to compare the
effectiveness of each in collecting the types of data we were looking for.

Data collected from this and other monitoring activities, including sediment
samples, will be used to determine the type and amount of restoration
needed, if any, in these areas.

For more detailed information about the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill NRDA
process, please visit the  NOAA Damage Assessment, Remediation, &
Restoration Program web site.

https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/deepwater-horizon

http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/wp-content/uplo
ads/Chapter-4_Injury_to_Natural_Resources_508.pdf

Above includes charts of benthic contamination extent.

This study found dispersant in deep water near corals persisted for only 6
months.
https://www.whoi.edu/news-release/dwh-dispersant

I'm going to preliminarily go with "oil and dispersant unlikely".  

Regards,

Greg E. Challenger, M.S.
President, Marine Scientist
Polaris Applied Sciences, Inc.
12525 131st Ct NE
Kirkland WA 98034
425-823-4841 office www.polarisappliedsciences.com   

Home - Polaris Applied Sciences
www.polarisappliedsciences.com
Polaris Applied Sciences, Inc. Scientific support for spill response,
natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) and resource reinstatement, coral
grounding assessment ...

The contents of this e-mail message and any attachments are confidential and
are intended solely for addressee. The information may also be legally
privileged. This transmission is sent in trust, for the sole purpose of
delivery to the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission
in error, any use, reproduction or dissemination of this transmission is
strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please
immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail or phone and delete this
message and its attachments, if any.

-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Adriana Leiva
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2016 11:08 AM
Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Active mortality event at Flower Garden Banks

Could it be that the dispersants from BP are somehow making their way to the
Flower Gardens? 

Adriana Leiva 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 29, 2016, at 1:05 PM, Kosmynin, Vladimir
<Vladimir.Kosmynin at dep.state.fl.us> wrote:
> 
> I agree with Les.  Oil is closest than any other possible cause of such
multy taxa mortality, and thus it is necessary to collect samples of water
at FGB and in different directions off it to trace any signs of oil.  It
doesn't exclude other hypotheses, which should be tested too.  NOAA should
compile emergency team of scientists for this case.
> 
> It is all really bad; FGB is a unique reef system in the Gulf.
> 
> Vladimir N. Kosmynin
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Jul 28, 2016, at 9:45 AM, Kaufman, Leslie S <lesk at bu.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> Hey Bill.  
>> 
>> Oh, wow- the nightmare. It's like when something bad afoot finally 
>> reaches
> out to an actual family member.
>> 
>> OK.
>> 
>> Emma and GP- beside what you'd already mentioned, I suggest 
>> preserving
> affected tissues for metagenomic analysis (DNA and mRNA).  We do not have
to run them, but as the situation clarifies, sequence and transcriptomic
data could be clinchers.  
>> 
>> It doesn't sound like temperature, but of course thermal data will be
> important- if there are loggers out might be wise to download them just to
make sure the data are secure.
>> 
>> Might be worth talking to Esther Peters for instructions on 
>> histological
> preservation, but since this is a cross-taxon mass-kill most of the
pathology will likely just indicate (superficially) that the critters are
sick and dying, not necessarily how come.
>> 
>> I think a brief moratorium during close monitoring are justified as a
> cautionary move.  This won't be fun.  
>> 
>> There has not been any oil spotted in the area, right?  Because that 
>> is
> one thing that this sounds like.  Have there ever been seeps observed
actually within the reef caps on either E or W?  Grasping at straws here..
>> 
>> Les
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Les Kaufman
>> Professor of Biology
>> Boston University Marine Program
>> Faculty Fellow, Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range 
>> Future and Conservation Fellow Betty and Gordon Moore Center for 
>> Science Conservation International lesk at bu.edu <mailto:lesk at bu.edu>
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list