http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/environment\/2010\/jun\/30\/biologists-find-oil-spill-
\ndeadzones<\/p>\n
Methane at 100,000 times normal levels have been creating oxygen-depleted
\nareas devoid of life near BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill, according to two
\nindependent scientists<\/p>\n
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
\nThursday July 1 2010
\nThe Guardian<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/environment\/2010\/jun\/30\/biologists-find-oil-spill-
\ndeadzones<\/p>\n
Scientists are confronting growing evidence that BP’s ruptured well in the
\nGulf of Mexico is creating oxygen-depleted “dead zones” where fish and other
\nmarine life cannot survive.<\/p>\n
In two separate research voyages, independent scientists have detected what
\nwere described as “astonishingly high” levels of methane, or natural gas,
\nbubbling from the well site
\n[http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/environment\/2010\/may\/08\/deepwater-horizon-blast-m
\nethane-bubble” title=””>”astonishingly high], setting off a chain of
\nreactions that suck the oxygen out of the water. In some cases, methane
\nconcentrations are 100,000 times normal levels.<\/p>\n
Other scientists as well as sport fishermen are reporting unusual movements
\nof fish, shrimp, crab and other marine life, including increased shark
\nsightings closer to the Alabama coast.<\/p>\n
Larry Crowder, a marine biologist at Duke University, said there were
\nalready signs that fish were being driven from their habitat.<\/p>\n
“The animals are already voting with their fins to get away from where the
\noil spill is and where potentially there is oxygen depletion,” he said.
\n“When you begin to see animals changing their distribution that is telling
\nyou about the quality of water further offshore. Basically, the fish are
\nmoving closer to shore to try to get to better water.”<\/p>\n
Such sightings ? and an accumulation of data from the site of the ruptured
\nwell and from the ocean depths miles away ? have deepened concerns that the
\nenormity of the environmental disaster in the Gulf has yet to be fully
\nunderstood. It could also jeopardise the Gulf’s billion-dollar fishing and
\nshrimping industry.<\/p>\n
In a conference call with reporters, Samantha Joye, a scientist at the
\nUniversity of Georgia who has been studying the effects of the spill at
\ndepth, said the ruptured well was producing up to 50% as much methane and
\nother gases as oil.<\/p>\n
The finding presents a new challenge to scientists who so far have been
\nfocused on studying the effects on the Gulf of crude oil, and the 5.7m
\nlitres of chemical dispersants used to break up the slick.<\/p>\n
Joye said her preliminary findings suggested the high volume of methane
\ncoming out of the well could upset the ocean food chain. Such high
\nconcentrations, it is feared, would trigger the growth of microbes, which
\nbreak up the methane, but also gobble up oxygen needed by marine life to
\nsurvive, driving out other living things.<\/p>\n
Joye said the methane was settling in a 200-metre layer of the water column,
\nbetween depths of 1,000 to 1,300 metres in concentrations that were already
\nthreatening oxygen levels.<\/p>\n
“That water can go completely anoxic [extremely low oxygen] and that is a
\npretty serious situation for any oxygen-requiring organism. We haven’t seen
\nzero-oxygen water but there is certainly enough gas in the water to draw
\noxygen down to zero,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It could wreak havoc with those communities that require oxygen,” Joye
\nsaid, wiping out plankton and other organisms at the bottom of the food
\nchain.<\/p>\n
A Texas A&M University oceanographer issued a similar warning last week
\non his return from a 10-day research voyage in the Gulf. John Kessler
\nrecorded “astonishingly high” methane levels in surface and deep water
\nwithin a five-mile radius of the ruptured well. His team also recorded 30%
\ndepletion of oxygen in some locations.<\/p>\n
Even without the gusher, the Gulf was afflicted by 6,000 to 7,000 square
\nmiles of dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi river, caused by run-off
\nfrom animal waste and farm fertiliser.<\/p>\n
The run-off sets off a chain reaction. Algae bloom and quickly die, and are
\neaten up by microbes that also consume oxygen needed by marine life.<\/p>\n
But the huge quantities of methane, or natural gas, being released from the
\nwell in addition to crude presents an entirely new danger to marine life and
\nto the Gulf’s lucrative fishing and shrimping industry.<\/p>\n
“Things are changing, and what impacts there are on the food web are not
\ngoing to be clear until we go out and measure that,” said Joye.<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Richard Charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/environment\/2010\/jun\/30\/biologists-find-oil-spill- deadzones Methane at 100,000 times normal levels have been creating oxygen-depleted areas devoid of life near BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill, according to two independent scientists Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent Thursday July 1 2010 The Guardian http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/environment\/2010\/jun\/30\/biologists-find-oil-spill- deadzones Scientists are confronting growing evidence that BP’s ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico is creating … Continue reading Guardian UK: Biologists find ‘dead zones’ around BP oil spill in Gulf<\/span>