GOMAEEN News Archive
These stories reflect Gulf news from June 2009 forward.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 | Navarre Beach needs oil response volunteers to keep eye on beach Shoreline Users Resource Force, or SURF volunteers, will be stationed on Navarre Beach to help watch and report changing beach conditions. They'll also provide information and answer questions from beach visitors and residents about beach and water safety, coastal habitats, wildlife, cleanup response, beach conditions, seafood safety and the Navarre Beach “Leave No Trace Behind” ordinance. Volunteers will not participate in cleanup activities. more info |
| EPA Releases First Round of Toxicity Testing Data for Eight Oil Dispersants While all eight dispersants alone – not mixed with oil – showed roughly the same effects, JD-2000 and Corexit 9500 proved to be the least toxic to small fish, and JD-2000 and SAF-RON GOLD were the least toxic to the mysid shrimp. more info |
| Deep-sea mysteries: Why drilling in 'inner space' tests human limits "Every time we go, we discover something new and astonishing: Fluorescent sharks, new types of bioluminescence, new types of animals -- you name it," says Edie Widder, CEO and senior scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, a nonprofit based in Florida. "It's pretty incredible and beautiful really." more info |
| Dead zone in gulf linked to ethanol production The gulf dead zone is the second-largest in the world, after one in the Baltic Sea. Scientists say the biggest culprit is industrial-scale corn production. Corn growers are heavy users of both nitrogen and pesticides. Vast monocultures of corn and soybeans, both subsidized by the federal government, have displaced diversified farms and grasslands throughout the Mississippi Basin. more info |
| New Orleans seeing oil come in via back door For New Orleans, oil in the lake threatens the second major disaster to sweep in from the Gulf in five years. On Aug. 29, 2005, a massive storm surge driven by Hurricane Katrina swept into Lake Pontchartrain, contributing to the destruction of levees. An estimated 80 percent of the city flooded. more info |
| A wounded Gulf of Mexico, an elusive prognosis But, with key gaps remaining in their data, there is wide disagreement about the big picture. Some researchers have concluded that the gulf is being spared an ecological disaster. Others think ecosystems that were already in trouble before the spill are now being pushed toward a brink. more info |
| Naval blimp to help track oil flow in gulf U.S. Coast Guard officials said the blimp, known as the MX-3A, can carry as many as 10 crew members as it flies slowly over the region to track the direction of the oil flow and how it is washing ashore, CNN reported. more info |
| Weather Inhibiting Full Capacity of Superskimmer Though the total amount of oil and water mix in the Gulf remains unknown, the ship's capacity would vastly increase what is currently being skimmed by smaller vessels. more info |
| Gulf oil spill reaches Texas as tar balls wash ashore Tests identified the small amount of tar found on the Bolivar Peninsula, north-east of Galveston, as coming from BP's blown-out well off Louisiana. more info |
| USM, Tulane scientists find oil in Crab Larvae Harriet Perry, director of the Center for Fisheries Research and Development at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, has found droplets of hydrocarbons or oil, in blue crab and fiddler crab larvae. According to Perry, the oil appears to be trapped between the hard, outer shell of the crab and its inner skin. more info |
| Scientists dispel oil rig disaster myths "The idea that there could be a catastrophic cave in, or a methane gas explosion, that's not a reasonable worry," said Gary Byerly, a professor of geology at Louisiana State University. "The rock formations on top of this oil deposit have enough strength that nothing like that is going to happen." more info |
| Federal agencies, Gulf state officials unite to ensure seafood safety "Together, they will implement a comprehensive, coordinated, multi-agency program to ensure that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe to eat," NOAA and the FDA said in a joint news release. "This is important not only for consumers who need to know their food is safe to eat, but also for fishermen who need to be able to sell their products with confidence." more info |
| World's largest oil skimmer heads to Gulf spill The ship looks like a typical tanker, but it takes in contaminated water through 12 vents on either side of the bow. The oil is then supposed to be separated from the water and transferred to another vessel. The water is channeled back into the sea. more info |
| Gulf Dispatch: Gulf oil disaster proves reform is needed now This spill reminds us we are in desperate need of a policy that recognizes that in our ocean environment, everything is connected - from industrial uses to the health of our ocean and the health of the coastal economy. more info |
| Wildlife rescue under way as oil gushes into Gulf "Typically with other spills, you have an acute release, and oil hits the shoreline fairly quickly. You have animals affected in the first week, and you have an end date," he explained. "With this spill, because the release is still going on, because it's so far offshore, we're not exactly sure where the oil is going to head, what shorelines are going to be affected, so it's been very difficult to plan to do searches and collections, where to establish facilities, how many people we need on-site, and which species are going to be affected." more info |
| Another 70-plus pelicans heading to Georgia A second group of more than 70 brown pelicans heads to Georgia after being cleaned of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill. more info |
| Biden Visits Gulf, Discusses Seafood Safety "These vessels are providing a variety of seafood and water samples from locations throughout the Gulf--nearshore and offshore, shallow water and deep, oiled and unoiled," said Steven Murawski, who is leading NOAA's science response to the spillhttp://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/07/vice-president-biden-visits-gulf-discusses-seafood-safety/, in a statement. "This is baseline information we need to measure any effects on seafood attributable to the spilled oil and to make sure our fishery closures are effective and in place for as long as they need to be, but no longer." more info |
| Pepsi's Refresh Project to help oil spill region The soft drink and snack maker said Thursday it will give an additional $1.3 million in grants next month to projects that will help communities in the five-state region — Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. more info |
| Threatened whale sharks seen in Gulf oil spill Hoffmayer said three of the sharks, the world's largest fish, were spotted within four miles of the spill site on Monday. They migrate north in late spring from waters near the Yucatan to feed off the mouth of the Mississippi River. The Deepwater Horizon site is about 40 miles southeast of the river. more info |
| Dispersants appear to break up in Gulf, EPA says Paul Anastas, the agency's assistant administrator for research and development, told reporters Wednesday the agency is making no new recommendations until further tests are conducted. But he said there is no sign that dispersants are remaining in the water or settling to the bottom, and that the Corexit 9500 being used by oil company BP is among the least toxic to small fish and mysid shrimp of the eight products tested, Anastas said. more info |
| Tropical Storm Alex Batters Mexico, Texas It is expected to weaken to a tropical depression later in the day as it moves farther inland across Mexico. The storm flooded coastal towns in Mexico and forced thousands to evacuate. It also spawned two tornadoes in Texas. more info |
| Ala. Raycom stations hold statewide report on oil crisis Reporters from WSFA 12 News in Montgomery, WBRC Fox 6 in Birmingham, WAFF 48 News in Huntsville and WTVM Newsleader 9 in Columbus, Georgia gathered on the beaches of Gulf Shores for the report. Numerous other Raycom stations along the Southeastern Gulf Coast carried the report as well. more info |
| Oil spill brings push for wetlands habitat The conservation service said up to $20 million is available through three existing programs for farmers, ranchers and other landowners in eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas. more info |
| Gulf's coastal wetlands surviving despite oil For now, there has been nothing approaching wholesale saturation of Louisiana's estuaries, nesting grounds for brown pelicans, ducks and endangered least terns and a buffer that protects population centers from tidal surges during severe storms. more info |
| Gulf Coast beaches update The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has coastal states and visitors bureaus working hard to keep the public updated and reassure beach-bound travelers. more info |
| Thousands of Sea Turtle Eggs To Be Moved Out of Oil's Way For the tens of thousands of sea turtle eggs incubating in the sands of the northern Gulf of Mexico—and dangerously near the oil—it's come to this: Officials are planning to dig up the approximately 700 nests on Alabama and the Florida panhandle beaches, pack the eggs in Styrofoam boxes, and fly them to a facility in eastern Florida where they can mature. Once the eggs have hatched, the young turtles will be released in darkness on Florida's Atlantic beaches into oil-free water. Translocation of nests on this scale has never been attempted before. more info |
| Will Floating Seaweed Be Another Oil Casualty? Sean Powers, a marine scientist at the University of South Alabama in Mobile and Dauphin Island Sea Lab on Dauphin Island, Alabama, tracks sargassum spread out across the gulf by airplane. He studies how reducing the size of algae mats in a specific area, which can occur for reasons including exposure to pollutants and changes in temperature, affects the surrounding marine life. Now Powers has received a National Science Foundation RAPID grant to study how sargassum fares in oiled waters. ScienceInsider spoke with Powers about his research. more info |
| Proposed U.S. Policy for Ocean, Coast, and Great Lakes Stewardship The Deepwater Horizon–BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a stark reminder of the intimate dependence of coastal communities on healthy coastal and oceanic ecosystems and of the urgent need to revise policies to ensure wise stewardship of coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes. In the Gulf, and around the world, scientific evidence indicates that coastal and oceanic ecosystems are being disrupted and depleted, with serious consequences for human well-being (1, 2). Oil spills are but one threat. Overfishing, destructive fishing gear, nutrient and chemical pollution, habitat loss, and introduction of nonnative species threaten the health of these ecosystems. Climate change and ocean acidification interact with and exacerbate the impacts of these stressors. The result is the loss of many benefits that humans want and need from these ecosystems, including healthy seafood, clean beaches, resilient economies and jobs, cultural and recreational opportunities, vibrant coastal communities, protection against hurricanes, abundant wildlife, provision of drinking water, and the oxygen that we breathe (2). more info |
| Jellyfish infiltrate New Smyrna Beach Scientists aren't the only ones interested in jellyfish. St. Petersburg resident David McRee, who runs the Florida beach website known as blogthebeach.com, said he gets e-mails almost daily from people wanting to know more about jellyfish or sending in photos for identification. more info |
| Gulf oil spill: Air pollution a new health concern So far, air samples from about 400 canisters the group collected on a recent trip to the oil spill do not show levels above government safety thresholds. But the concentrations are higher than those found over heavily polluted urban areas, such as Los Angeles, Mexico City or Oklahoma oil tank farms. more info |
