NOAA tracking spilled Macondo oil and its consequences

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists are working throughout the Gulf of Mexico to assess where spilled Macondo oil has gone, where it might go, and to figure out the extent of any potential damages to the gulf ecosystem.

During a news conference on July 27, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said preliminary findings indicate the light crude has been biodegraded quickly by naturally occurring bacteria that is abundant in the warm-water gulf.

“We do know that over 600 miles of the gulf coast shoreline have already been oiled, and some [oil] remains on the surface although the amount on the surface is less and less,” Lubchenco said. “Recent satellite imagery indicates surface oil is continuing to break up into smaller scattered patches,” that are predominantly light sheens containing little recoverable oil.

NOAA scientists are studying short-term and long-term impacts. Four NOAA vessels, two aircraft, and five sea turtle rescue boats currently are busy with missions ranging from seafood safety to detecting submerged oil.

The NOAA ship Nancy Foster is using a remotely operated vehicle to monitor deep water bottom and coral habitats exposed to the oil dispersant mixture. The NOAA ship Oregon II is collecting samples of fish and shrimp off Louisiana that will be tested for contaminants.

A Twin Otter aircraft is using a multispectral scanner to measure surface oil density and thickness, and a second Twin Otter is providing aerial observations and surveys of dolphins, whales, and sea turtles in the area of the spill.

Oil companies protect Middle Eastern coral reefs

Various oil companies are taking an interest in research projects to advance the conservation, management, and sustainable use of coral reefs in the Middle East. Coral reefs, home to fish and other marine animals, have a very slow growth rate. In previous decades, researchers have blamed the oil industry for damaging coral reefs.

Saudi Aramco installed 36 moored buoys around the coral-reef islands of Jana, Karan, and Kuran. The oil company worked with Saudi Arabia’s Environmental Protection Department to provide fishing boats and recreational-dive vessels with an alternative to dropping anchors in the Red Sea.

Boaters hook their lines to the buoy pickup line—preventing coral colonies from being damaged by anchors and their steel chains.

In the southern Arabian Gulf off Abu Dhabi and eastern Qatar, Dolphin Energy Ltd. contributed $500,000 to a coral study coordinated by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Total SA and Occidental Petroleum Corp. helped finance that study, “Coral Reef Investigation in Abu Dhabi and Eastern Qatar.”

Total owns 39.62% interest in Yeman LNG project. During project planning, the stakeholders hired a French consultancy, Creocean, whose marine environmental researchers identified 79 species of coral, of which some are 400 years old. Consequently, Yemen LNG redesigned part of its site and shoreline work in the port of Balhaf on the Gulf of Aden in southern Yemen to protect the coral.