• Mote Responds as Oil Spreads
  
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• Oil Drilling in the Gulf
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'The Worst Spill in U.S. History': Mote Responds as Oil Spreads

by Dr. Kumar Mahadevan, Mote President and CEO
There may still be much discussion taking place regarding the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig in April but one thing has become abundantly clear: This is the worst spill in U.S. history.

While the environmental damage cannot and should not overshadow the loss of 11 human lives in the explosion, it is clear that the spill's effects will linger for decades and affect millions of people who depend on the Gulf for their way of life.

From commercial oystermen in Apalachicola, to recreational anglers to casual beachgoers visiting Florida from northern states, we all have a stake in the health of the Gulf of Mexico and in helping the ecosystem recover from the damage caused by the oil and the dispersants being used to break it down.


Kayakers at Naval Air Station Pensacola detour around an oil containment boom at Sherman Cove. The boom was set to protect environmentally sensitive grass beds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Photo by Patrick Nichols/U.S. Navy.

• We have expanded our Beach Conditions Report system to include oil spill impacts on 33 beaches on Florida's west coast. As it has during the Florida red tides that led to its creation, this system continues to prove itself as an important source of credible, real-time information for the public. We are working to refine this reporting system so it provides a better snapshot of oil impacts and are also seeking funding to expand this system so that we receive reports from all of Florida's 165 major beaches.
• Another reporting system that Mote has in place is the Marine Ecosystem Event Response and Assessment Project, or MEERA. MEERA provides early detection and assessment of biological events occurring in the Florida Keys and surrounding waters. Should the oil spill affect the Florida Keys, that information will be included in the MEERA reports.
• Mote scientists have been gathering baseline samples of bottom-dwelling organisms, water, sediment, oysters, clams, seagrasses, total organic carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are chemical components found in oil. So far, we have gathered samples from 25 sites in Sarasota Bay and another dozen sites in Charlotte Harbor. These baselines will provide the critical "before" picture of our environment should there be an "after" caused by oil. Why is this needed? The Exxon Valdez spill led to years of lawsuits and a key issue was that there was no scientific picture of what the Alaskan environment looked like at the spill site before the spill happened.

(From left to right) Mike Henry, manager of the Chemical Fate and Effects Program, Rebecca Medvecky, staff chemist, intern Matteo Ichino and Jim Culter, manager of the Benthic Ecology Program, spent several days in Pine Island Sound in Charlotte Harbor gathering baseline samples. In this photo, they are cataloguing what they've gathered for future analysis.
Photo by Nadine Slimak/Mote Marine Laboratory.

• Autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, have been patrolling Gulf waters for signs of oil and dispersants. We have sent these underwater robots to areas we believe oil could appear as it flows throughout the Gulf. In addition to providing a potential early warning for coastal communities, these robots are gathering new and critical information about ocean currents that will lead to more refined models for things like oil movement. So far, we have deployed three AUVs. (To date, none has detected oil or dispersents.)
  
• Scientists in the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, a partnership between Mote Marine Laboratory and the Chicago Zoological Society, are studying bottlenose dolphins in Florida Gulf Coast waters off Sarasota and the Florida Panhandle that are currently oil-free to prepare for before-and-after comparisons should oil reach those areas.

A Sarasota Dolphin Research Program team watches as two dolphins are released in Palma Sola Bay following a health assessment in May. The Program, a partnership between Mote and the Chicago Zoological Society, recently received a grant from the Morris Animal Foundation to collect baseline data on dolphins off Sarasota to help understand how the animals might be affected by the oil spill.
Photo by Bill Scott/Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.

• The Unified Command has also requested that Mote act as a primary reception site for oiled sea turtles. Doing so will require an immediate expansion of our facilities — everything from bringing in more rehabilitation tanks and bringing new filtration systems online, to hiring additional staff. Because of the record cold in January, Mote has already been overextended in our efforts to rehabilitate endangered sea turtles and has treated more than 50 this year alone. Our dolphin hospital also stands ready to help stranded marine mammals, if necessary.

• Our Biomarker Lab can measure the effects of acute oil exposure on marine mammals and sea turtles. It can also look at how the recovery of these animals' critical biological functions like reproduction, immune health and metabolism occur over time.
• We are also preparing a plan that will help us measure the long-term impacts to our habitats — like our critical estuaries — and to the communities that depend on them.

Sincerely,

Kumar Mahadevan, Ph.D.

*This article was also printed in the Opinion section of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on June, 26, 2010.

>Click here to read another article about the spill from Dr. Mahadevan  oiriginally published in the Opinion section of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on May 2, 2010.

Since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, Mote has received hundreds of inquiries from the public. The key question people are asking is "What can I do to help?"

So far, more than 1,500 members of the public have signed up as potential volunteers through Mote's website. Some are Mote's Southwest Florida neighbors; others live as far away as Alaska.

"There are many people who want to get involved — want to help injured or oiled animals or want to help clean up the beaches," says Mote's Volunteer Coordinator, Lisa Kinsella. "But some of those activities can cause more harm than good.

"For instance, sea turtles and shorebirds are nesting on Southwest Florida beaches right now and sending hundreds of people out to clean beaches — no matter how well-intentioned — could lead to nest damage.

"Additionally, working with sick or injured wildlife at any time requires specialized training. Working with oiled wildlife requires even more knowledge about handling hazardous materials and cleaning animals affected by oil."

For now — for those of you who want to participate in hands-on activities — we have to ask you to please sit tight and stand at the ready. We continue to gather names of potential volunteers and if oil affects Southwest Florida or there is a call to action for volunteers in another part of the state, please rest assured that we will call upon you for help. (Not registered? Click here.)

While there isn't a call for volunteers to help oiled wildlife or clean up oil on Southwest Florida beaches — and many of those activities may need to be done by paid contractors and not volunteers — there are things Florida visitors and local residents can do to help.

• To learn about volunteer opportunities throughout Florida, go to http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/volunteer.html.
• Become a Coast Watch Volunteer. Similar to the Crime Watch program, Coast Watch Volunteers are community members who know the daily wildlife and plants that exist on their local beach. No special training is required — merely a sharp eye and a willingness to watch for oiled wildlife, vegetation and beaches. Coast Watch Volunteers who see injured or oiled animals should call the Wildlife Distress Hotline: 1-866-557-1401. To report oiled shoreline in Florida, call the State Warning Point: 1-877-2-SAVE-FL (1-877-272-8335) or #DEP from a cell phone. Click here to download an oil spill fact sheet PDF on what to look for. Click here to download an oil spill reporting guide.
• The majority of Florida's beaches remain unaffected by oil. Help Visit Florida get the word out that our state is still open for business by posting photos of your Florida visit at http://www.visitflorida.com/floridalive.
• Click here for some answers to other Frequently Asked Questions.
  

This disaster presents Mote with unprecedented and immediate challenges that are already testing the limits of our resources. As an independent, nonprofit marine research laboratory, we are supported by grants that fund scientific studies and animal rehabilitation efforts. Each grant we receive is given for a specific purpose and may only be used for that purpose.

Unfortunately, we have no rainy-day fund to support the advance work we need to do that will allow us to measure the effects of the spill. We can't understand the damage done unless we know what "normal" looks like: where the animals migrate, what habitats are most critical for their survival, how large their populations are. We've been advocating for funding to gather such information for most of our 55 years. While this research has always been important, now — given the current situation — it is even more critical and essential.

We're committed. Are you? Please click here to donate now

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Oil Drilling in the Gulf
Earlier this year, the Director of Mote Marine Laboratory's Marine Policy Institute, Dr. Frank Alcock — in his role as a Fellow with the Collins Center for Public Policy — produced a report to Florida's Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida called "Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Explorations in the Gulf."

The report, co-authored with Tom Arthur, Director of the Collins Center News and Information Service, was requested by the Florida Senate to assist that body with a detailed and comprehensive review of the implications of offshore drilling.

The report is particularly relevent in light of the current Gulf of Mexico oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon and President Barack Obama's March 31 announcement that his administration will open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling.

Accordingly, these recent events have intensified Florida's discussion of oil and natural gas exploration. The Collins Center report was written to provide a source of unbiased information regarding what is known and not known

• Regulatory Framework
• Resources, Economic Benefits, and Energy Independence
• Environmental Risks, Permitting and Accident Response
• Aesthetics and Opportunity Costs

>Click here to download a PDF of the full report.

According to Alcock: "April 20, 2010, will no doubt be looked upon as a seminal date in the history of offshore drilling in U.S. waters. Accidents of this magnitude are painful because of the economic and environmental damage they inflict, but the loss of life in this instance is especially tragic. The spill has yet to be contained. In fact, the latest information indicates that the volume of oil leaking from the well is significantly larger than first reported..."

>Read more.
 

• The Deepwater Horizon Joint Information Center. This is the official incident command site.
  
• The Office of Response and Restoration at the National Oceanic and Atmopheric Administraton (NOAA). This page includes maps of the spill and forecasts for where it may move.
  
• The EPA's information page about the oil spill.
• The latest news on Florida's response from the DEP, which is overseeing all response within the state.
• Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
  
• Images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory in the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida. This image archive provides 250-m resolution MODIS and MERIS satellite RGB images to show the location and size of the subsequent oil spill on the ocean surface, and provides 1-km resolution MODIS Sea Surface Temperature imagery to examine the position of the oil spill relative toe major ocean circulation features such as the Loop Current.
• The National Wildlife Federation's guide for teachers and parents for talking about the oil spill with kids.
• Public health information about the oil spill from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  

• The Florida State Emergency Information Line:
  800-342-3557
• Report oiled shoreline or request volunteer information:
  866-448-5816
• Submit alternative response technology, services or products: 281-366-5511
• Submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system: 281-366-5511
• Submit a claim for damages:
  800-440-0858
• Report oiled wildlife:
  866-557-1401

*Please note: These are NOT Mote Marine Laboratory phone numbers. These are hotlines established by BP as part of their required response and go to a centralized location. The Florida Information Line goes to the Florida DEP.

• General information about the spill
• Shorelines and coastal habitats
• Marine mammals and sea turtles
• Sea turtle information
  
• Seafood safety
• Fish economics
• Response and rescue plans for marine mammals and sea turtles impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.