title: Footprint of Deepwater Horizon blowout impact to deep-water coral communities.
abstract: On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout occurred, releasing more oil than any accidental spill in history. Oil release continued for 87 d and much of the oil and gas remained in, or returned to, the deep sea. A coral community significantly impacted by the spill was discovered in late 2010 at 1,370 m depth. Here we describe the discovery of five previously unknown coral communities near the Macondo wellhead and show that at least two additional coral communities were impacted by the spill. Although the oil-containing flocullent material that was present on corals when the first impacted community was discovered was largely gone, a characteristic patchy covering of hydrozoans on dead portions of the skeleton allowed recognition of impacted colonies at the more recently discovered sites. One of these communities was 6 km south of the Macondo wellhead and over 90% of the corals present showed the characteristic signs of recent impact. The other community, 22 km southeast of the wellhead between 1,850 and 1,950 m depth, was more lightly impacted. However, the discovery of this site considerably extends the distance from Macondo and depth range of significant impact to benthic macrofaunal communities. We also show that most known deep-water coral communities in the Gulf of Mexico do not appear to have been acutely impacted by the spill, although two of the newly discovered communities near the wellhead apparently not impacted by the spill have been impacted by deep-sea fishing operations.
authors: Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-5301; cfisher@psu.edu.
authors: Charles R
authors: CR
authors: Fisher
authors: Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-5301;
authors: Pen-Yuan
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5394-879X
authors: PY
authors: Hsing
authors: Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050;
authors: Carl L
authors: CL
authors: Kaiser
authors: Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050;
authors: Dana R
authors: DR
authors: Yoerger
authors: Coastal Studies Institute, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803;
authors: Harry H
authors: HH
authors: Roberts
authors: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, United States Department of the Interior, New Orleans, LA 70115;
authors: William W
authors: WW
authors: Shedd
authors: Biology Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122;
authors: Erik E
authors: EE
authors: Cordes
authors: Redfield Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA 02543; and.
authors: Timothy M
authors: TM
authors: Shank
authors: Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-5301;
authors: Samantha P
authors: SP
authors: Berlet
authors: Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-5301;
authors: Miles G
authors: MG
authors: Saunders
authors: Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-5301;
authors: Elizabeth A
authors: EA
authors: Larcom
authors: TDI-Brooks International Inc., College Station, TX 77845.
authors: James M
authors: JM
authors: Brooks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000187:drug effects*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D060851:Gulf of America; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects*
keywords: Paramuricea; anthropogenic impact; autonomous underwater vehicle; octocoral; oil spill