Mote research highlights potential Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacts on exposed flounder
February 19, 2019Mote Marine Laboratory scientists found that southern flounder exposed to oiled sediment for 30 days in the lab showed evidence of stress and DNA damage, one of the latest indicators of potential impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill that continues to be studied today. The flounder study — presented at the 2019 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference this month in New Orleans and in prep for submission to a peer-reviewed journal — is one of several oil-exposure studies in a series led by Mote senior scientists Dr. Dana Wetzel and Dr. Kevan Main. Wetzel, manager of Mote’s Environmental Laboratory for Forensics, is leading the toxicology task group within the C-IMAGE research consortium focused on the Deepwater Horizon impacts and based at University of South Florida.