On Tuesday, November 2, scientists aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel found dead and dying coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, most likely caused by the BP oil spill in April. The colony was found about seven miles from the oil spill site, about 4,500 feet deep. A type of starfish that finds it's home in the coral reef was also severely damaged. Researchers have taken samples back to the labs to analyze, but they say the results may be inconclusive because the toxins may never have accumulated in the coral tissue or on the seafloor near the corals.
Although there is no concrete evidence to prove that the reefs dying was an effect of the oil spill, most researchers conclude that the oil spill did have some effect on the phenomenon. Dr. Charles Fisher, a marine biologist from Pennsylvania State University and the chief scientist on the expedition, noted, “we have never seen anything like this at any of the deep coral sites that we’ve been to, and we’ve been to a lot of them.” The evidence points to the oil spill as the main cause of the death of the coral community. The reef is close to the spill site and could have easily been hit by an oil plume, allowing it to be damaged very easily.
This topic relates to our class because it shows how humans can severely impact the Earth and its resources. The spill was caused by human error, which could potential impact the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico. This simple error can lead to the destruction of not only the coral in the region, but it will also affect the rest of the life forms that rely on the coral and that can be affected by the toxins present in the water. It also shows how one problem can affect an area for an extended period of time, and that the effects of the disaster can be seen long after the disaster occurred.
I find the oil spill to be a very important event because it was the largest spill to occur. Although the spill occurred in April 2010, the effects of the spill will continue to be seen because the toxins were unable to be completely removed from the water. Many organisms rely on the coral that was damaged from the toxins, and they will need to adapt in order to survive. We will continue to see more effects from the spill appearing in the future, because it had such a severe impact on that ecosystem.
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by Kylie Strijek
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