Deep sea coral was recently found dead among various coral colonies seven miles from the Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill. For the first time, the Associated Press reports, federal scientists are faced with circumstantial evidence of oceanic sea floor effects from the oil spill.
Before this finding, federal teams reported no damage to the ocean’s sea floor due to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion six months ago. However, Charles Fisher, a biologist with Penn State University who led the expedition aboard the Ronald Brown, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel, claims that, "there is an abundance of circumstantial data that suggests that what happened is related to the recent oil spill.”
A remote operated robot aided scientists aboard the Ronald Brown investigate coral colonies measuring up to 130 feet by 50 feet and about 4,600 feet under the surface, the Los Angeles Times reports. What was discovered was extensive bare areas of coral and marsh-like areas of tissue and mucus.
Fisher states, "These kinds of coral are normally beautiful, brightly colored,” but instead "what you saw was a field of brown corals with exposed skeleton — white, brittle stars tightly wound around the skeleton, not waving their arms like they usually do."
This article appears in Nov 11-17, 2010.