In the face of the tragic BP Gulf Coast Oil Spill, NOAA has been redirected to collect seafloor and water column data from areas near the Gulf of Mexico.
Researchers from the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology (NIUST) on a university research ship to obtain core sediment samples from the seafloor and water samples from the water column in areas near the Deepwater Horizon spill source. The samples are expected to provide important information about the abundance of marine organisms and the presence of chemicals in ocean water and sediments–information for a baseline against which to measure change if those areas are affected by sinking oil.
The university fleet research vessel Pelican, operated by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, departed Cocodrie, La., late Tuesday and arrived at the spill source on Wednesday. They will return on Sunday for more supplies, and go back to the site later that week.
“This sampling mission is one of many NOAA responses to the oil spill,” acting NOAA assistant administrator for NOAA Research Craig McLean said. “It fills an important gap in researching the interaction of spilled oil and the ocean environment. The samples will help us better understand affected ocean resources.”
An instrument called a CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) will measure the water’s conductivity, temperature, density and oxygen concentration at various water column depths, while bottles on the CTD obtain water samples.
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I would assume that such tests will be required for decades to come, as the long term effects of this tragic event are unknown, especially as it relates to the health of seafood in the surrounding area.
I agree with you mark. The domino has tipped, and we can only imagine the environmental, health and financial implications to come.
Dont believe anything NIUST says. They are the same as NIST which did the non-investigation of the 3 WTC collapses.