Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 29 Issue 03

View Issue TOC
Volume 29, No. 3
Pages 182 - 195

OpenAccess

How Did the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Impact Deep-Sea Ecosystems?

By Charles R. Fisher , Paul A. Montagna, and Tracey T. Sutton 
Jump to
Article Abstract Citation References Copyright & Usage
Article Abstract

Approximately 90% of the volume of the Gulf of Mexico is contained in water deeper than 200 m, a region where the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout had more impact on ecosystems than any previous oil spill. The remoteness and relative inaccessibility of the deep sea makes documenting even acute impacts to the animals that live in this realm difficult. This article reviews Natural Resource Damage Assessment studies and follow-up work funded as part of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative that targeted deepwater pelagic and benthic fauna. Oil was incorporated into the pelagic food web, and a reduction in planktonic grazers led to phytoplankton blooms. Fish larvae were killed, and a generation may have been lost. Cetaceans were killed, and many avoided the area of the spill. In the benthic realm, there was a large loss of diversity of soft-bottom infauna, which were still not recovering a year after the DWH oil spill. Colonial octocorals that are anchored to the hard seafloor and are especially vulnerable to anthropogenic impact, died as a result of being covered with flocculent material containing oil and dispersant. Soft- and hard-bottom effects of the oil spill were found as much as 14 km away from the DWH wellhead site. Deep-sea communities in the Gulf of Mexico are diverse, play critical roles in the food web and carbon cycling, affect productivity, are sensitive to perturbations, and are at risk to contaminant exposure; thus, it is important to understand the effects on these natural resources.

Citation

Fisher, C.R., P.A. Montagna, and T.T. Sutton. 2016. How did the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impact deep-sea ecosystems? Oceanography 29(3):182–195, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.82.

References

Ackleh, A.S., G.E. Ioup, J.W. Ioup, B. Ma, J.J. Newcomb, N. Pal, N.A. Sidorovskaia, and C. Tiemann. 2012. Assessing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impact on marine mammal population through acoustics: Endangered sperm whales. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 131(3):2,306–2,314, https://doi.org/​10.1121/1.3682042.

Allain, V. 2005. Diet of four tuna species of the western and central Pacific Ocean. SPC Fisheries Newsletter 114:30–33.

Armstrong, C.W., N.S. Foley, R. Tinch, and S. van den Hove. 2012. Services from the deep: Steps towards valuation of deep sea goods and services. Ecosystem Services 2:2–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2012.07.001.

Baguley J.G., P.A. Montagna, L.J. Hyde, and G.T. Rowe. 2008. Metazoan meiofauna biomass, grazing, and weight-dependent respiration in the Northern Gulf of Mexico deep sea. Deep Sea Research Part II 55:2,607–2,616, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.07.010

Becker, E.L., E.E. Cordes, S.A. Macko and C.R. Fisher. 2009. Importance of seep primary production to Lophelia pertusa and associated fauna in the Gulf of Mexico. Deep Sea Research Part I 56:786–800 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2008.12.006.

Bell, K.L.C., M.L. Brennan, J. Flanders, N.A. Raineault, and K. Wagner, eds. 2016. New frontiers in ocean exploration: The E/V Nautilus and NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer 2015 field season. Oceanography 29(1), supplement, 84 pp., https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.supplement.01.

Boehm, P.D., and P.D. Carragher. 2012. Location of natural oil seep and chemical finger-printing suggest alternative explanation for deep sea coral observations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109(40):E2647, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1209658109

BOEM (Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management). 2016. Seismic Water Bottom Anomalies Map Gallery. http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Mapping-and-Data/Map-Gallery/Seismic-Water-Bottom-Anomalies-Map-Gallery.aspx

Brooks, J.M., C. Fisher, H. Roberts, E. Cordes, I. Baums, B. Bernard, R. Church, P. Etnoyer, C. German, E. Goehring, and others. 2016. Exploration and Research of Northern Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Natural and Artificial Hard-Bottom Habitats with Emphasis on Coral Communities: Reefs, Rigs, and Wrecks—“Lophelia II” Final Report. US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA, OCS Study, BOEM 2012-106, 126 pp.

Burghart, S.E., T.L. Hopkins, and J.J. Torres. 2010. Partitioning of food resources in bathypelagic micronekton in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 399:131–140, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08365.

Canadell, J.G., C. Le Quéré, M.R. Raupach, C.B. Field, E.T. Buitenhuis, P. Ciais, T.J. Conway, N.P. Gillett, R.A. Houghton, and G. Marland. 2007. Contributions to accelerating atmospheric CO2 growth from economic activity, carbon intensity, and efficiency of natural sinks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104(47):18,866–18,870, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0702737104.

Childress, J.J., C.R. Fisher, J.M. Brooks, M. Kennicutt, R. Bidigare, and A.E. Anderson. 1986. A methanotrophic marine molluscan (Bivalvia, Mytilidae) symbiosis: Mussels fueled by gas. Science 233:1,306–1,308, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.233.4770.1306.

Churchill, D.A., M.R. Heithaus, J.J. Vaudo, R.D. Grubbs, K. Gastrich, and J.I. Castro. 2015. Trophic interactions of common elasmobranchs in deep-sea communities of the Gulf of Mexico revealed through stable isotope and stomach content analysis. Deep Sea Research Part II 115:92–102, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.10.011.

Cordes, E.E., D.C. Bergquist, and C.R. Fisher. 2009. Macro-ecology of Gulf of Mexico cold seeps. Annual Review of Marine Science 1:143–168, https://doi.org/10.1146/​annurev.marine.010908.163912

Danovaro, R., C. Gambi, A. Dell’Anno, C. Corinaldesi, S. Fraschetti, A. Vanreusel, M. Vincx, and A.J. Gooday, 2008. Exponential decline of deep-sea ecosystem functioning linked to benthic biodiversity loss. Current Biology 18(1):1–8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.11.056.

Davis, R.W., G.S. Fargion, N. May, T.D. Leming, M. Baumgartner, W.E. Evans, L.J. Hansen, and K. Mullin. 1998. Physical habitat of cetaceans along the continental slope in the North–Central and Western Gulf of Mexico. Marine Mammal Science.14:490–507, https://doi.org/​10.1111/​j.1748-7692.1998.tb00738.x.

D’Elia, M., J.D. Warren, I. Rodriguez-Pinto, T.T. Sutton, A.B. Cook. 2016. Diel variation in the vertical distribution of deep-water scattering layers in the Gulf of Mexico. Deep-Sea Research Part I:115: 91–102, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2016.05.014.

Deming, J.W., and S.D. Carpenter. 2008. Factors influencing benthic bacterial abundance, biomass, and activity on the northern continental margin and deep basin of the Gulf of Mexico. Deep Sea Research Part II 55:2,597–2,606, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.07.009.

Diercks, A.R., R.C. Highsmith, V.L. Asper, D. Joung, Z. Zhou, L. Guo, A.M. Shiller, S.B. Joye, A.P. Teske, N. Guinasso, and others. 2010. Characterization of subsurface polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at the Deepwater Horizon site. Geophysical Research Letters 37, L20602, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL045046.

Du, M., and J.D. Kessler. 2012. Assessment of the spatial and temporal variability of bulk hydrocarbon respiration following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environmental Science & Technology 46:10,499−10,507, https://doi.org/​10.1021/es301363k.

Etnoyer, P.J., L.N. Wickes, M. Silva, J.D. Dubick, L. Balthis, E. Salgado, and I.R. MacDonald. 2015. Decline in condition of gorgonian octocorals on mesophotic reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico: Before and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Coral Reef 35:77–90, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-015-1363-2.

Fisher, C.R., A. Demopoulos, E. Cordes, I. Baums, H. White, J. Bourque. 2014a. Deep-sea coral communities as indicators of ecosystem-level impacts resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. BioScience 64:796–807, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu129.

Fisher, C.R., P-Y. Hsing, C. Kaiser, D. Yoerger, H. Roberts, W. Shedd, E.E. Cordes, T.M. Shank, S.P. Berlet, M. Saunders, and others. 2014b. Footprint of Deepwater Horizon blowout impact to deep-water coral communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 111:11,744–11,749, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1403492111.

Fisher, C.R., H. Roberts, E. Cordes, and B. Bernard. 2007. Cold seeps and associated communities of the Gulf of Mexico. Oceanography 20(4):68–79, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2007.12

Fitch, J.E., and R.L. Brownell. 1968. Fish otoliths in cetacean stomachs and their importance in interpreting feeding habits. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 25:2,561–2,574, https://doi.org/10.1139/f68-227.

Flynn, A.J., and R.J. Kloser. 2012. Cross-basin heterogeneity in lanternfish (Family Myctophidae) assemblages and isotopic niches. Deep-Sea Research Part I 69:113–127, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr.2012.07.007

Girard, F., B. Fu, and C.R. Fisher. 2016. Mutualistic symbiosis with ophiuroids limited the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea octocorals. Marine Ecology Progress Series 549:89–98, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11697.

Gore, R.H. 1992. The Gulf of Mexico. Pineapple Press, Inc. Sarasota Florida, 384 pp.

Graham, W.M., R.H. Condon, R.H. Carmichael, I. D’Ambra, H.K. Patterson, L.J. Linn, and F.J. Hernandez Jr. 2010. Oil carbon entered the coastal planktonic food web during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environmental Research Letters 5(4), 045301, https://doi.org/​10.1088/1748-9326/5/4/045301

Hopkins, T.L., and T.T. Sutton. 1998. Midwater fishes and shrimps as competitors in low latitude oligotrophic ecosystems. Marine Ecology Progress Series 164:37–45.

Hopkins, T.L., T.T. Sutton, and T.M. Lancraft. 1996. Trophic structure and predation impact of a low latitude midwater fish assemblage. Progress in Oceanography 38:205–239, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(97)00003-7.

Hsing, P.-Y., B. Fu, E.A. Larcom, S.P. Berlet, T.M. Shank, A. Frese Govindarajan, A.J. Lukasiewicz, P.M. Dixon, and C.R. Fisher. 2013. Evidence of lasting impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a deep Gulf of Mexico coral community. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000012.

Hu, C., R.H. Weisberg, Y. Liu, L. Zheng, K.L. Daly, D.C. English, J. Zhao, and G.A. Vargo. 2011. Did the northeastern Gulf of Mexico become greener after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill? Geophysical Research Letters 38, L09601, https://doi.org/​10.1029/2011GL047184.

Hyland, J., D. Laur, J. Jones, J. Shrake, D. Cadian, and L. Harris. 1994. Effects of an oil spill on soft-bottom benthos of Arthur Harbour, Antarctica compared with long-term natural change. Antarctic Science 6:37–44, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102094000052.

Incardona, J.P., L.D. Gardner, T.L. Linbo, T.L. Brown, A.J. Esbaugh, E.M. Mager, J.D. Stieglitz, B.L. French, J.S. Labenia, C.A. Laetz, and M. Tagal. 2014. Deepwater Horizon crude oil impacts the developing hearts of large predatory pelagic fish. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111(15):E1510–E1518, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1320950111.

Jefferson, T.A., and A.J. Shiro. 1997. Distribution of cetaceans in the offshore Gulf of Mexico. Mammal Review 27:27–50, https://doi.org/​10.1111/​j.1365-2907.1997.tb00371.x.

Jobstvogt, N., M. Townsend, U. Witte, and N. Hanley. 2014. How can we identify and communicate the ecological value of deep-sea ecosystem services? PloS ONE 9(7):e100646, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100646.

Judkins, H., S. Arbuckle, M. Vecchione, L. Garrison, and A. Martinez. 2015. Cephalopods in the potential prey field of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) (Cetacea: Physeteridae) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Natural History 49:1,267–1,280, https://doi.org/10.1080/​00222933.2013.802045.

Kyne, P.M. and C.A. Simpfendorfer. 2010. Deepwater chondrichthyans. Pp. 37–114 in Sharks and Their Relatives II: Biodiversity, Adaptive Physiology and Conservation. J.C. Carrier, J.A. Musick, and M.R. Heithaus, eds, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 

Leduc, D., A.A Rowden, D.A. Bowden, P.K. Probert, C.A. Pilditch, and S.D. Nodder. 2012. Unimodal relationship between biomass and species richness of deep-sea nematodes: Implications for the link between productivity and diversity. Marine Ecology Progress Series 454:53–64, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09609.

Levin, L.A., and P.K. Dayton. 2009. Ecological theory and continental margins: Where shallow meets deep. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24:606–617, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.04.012.

Lu, Z., Y. Deng, J.D. Van Nostrand, Z. He, J. Voordeckers, A. Zhou, Y.J. Lee, O.U. Mason, E.A. Dubinsky, K.L. Chavarria, and L.M. Tom. 2012. Microbial gene functions enriched in the Deepwater Horizon deep-sea oil plume. The ISME Journal 6(2):451–460, https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2011.91.

Main, C.E., H.A. Ruhl, D.O.B. Jones, A. Yool, B. Thornton, and D.J. Major. 2015. Hydrocarbon contamination affects deep-sea benthic oxygen uptake and microbial community composition. Deep Sea Research Part I 100:79–87, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2014.12.008.

Mariano, A.J., V.H. Kourafalou, A. Srinivasan, H. Kang, G.R. Halliwell, E.H. Ryan, and M. Roffer. 2011. On the modeling of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans 52(1):322–340, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dynatmoce.2011.06.001.

MacDonald, I.R., O. Garcia-Pineda, A. Beet, S. Daneshgar Asl, L. Feng, G. Graettinger, D. French-McCay, J. Holmes, C. Hu, F. Huffer, and others. 2015. Natural and unnatural oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Geophysical Research 120:8,364–8,380, https://doi.org/​10.1002/2015JC011062.

McBride, B.C., P. Weimer, and M.G. Rowan. 1998. The effect of allochthonous salt on the petroleum systems of northern Green Canyon and Ewing Bank (offshore Louisiana), northern Gulf of Mexico. AAPG Bulletin 82:1,083–1,112.

Montagna P.A., J.G. Baguley, C. Cooksey, I. Hartwell, L.J. Hyde, J.L. Hyland, R.D. Kalke, L.M. Kracker, M. Reuscher, and A.C.E. Rhodes. 2013. Deep-sea benthic footprint of the Deepwater Horizon blowout. PLoS ONE 8(8):e70540, https://doi.org/​10.1371/journal.pone.0070540.

Montagna P.A., J.G. Baguley, C. Cooksey, and J.L. Hyland. 2016a. Persistent impacts to the deep soft-bottom benthos one year after the Deepwater Horizon event. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, https://doi.org/​10.1002/ieam.1791.

Montagna P.A., J.G. Baguley, C. Cooksey, and J.L. Hyland. 2016b. Persistent impacts to the deep soft-bottom benthos four years after the Deepwater Horizon event. Paper presented at the 2016 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference, February 1–4, 2016, Tampa, Florida.

Montagna, P.A., J.E. Bauer, M.C. Prieto, D. Hardin, and R.B. Spies. 1986. Benthic metabolism in a natural coastal petroleum seep. Marine Ecology Progress Series 34:31–40.

Montagna, P.A., J.E. Bauer, J. Toal, D. Hardin, and R.B. Spies. 1987. Temporal variability and the relationship between benthic meiofaunal and microbial populations of a natural coastal petroleum seep. Journal of Marine Research 45:761–789, https://doi.org/10.1357/002224087788326894.

Ortmann A.C., J. Anders, N. Shelton, L. Gong, A.G. Moss, and R.H. Condon. 2012. Dispersed oil disrupts microbial pathways in pelagic food webs. PLoS ONE 7(7):e42548, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0042548.

Passow, U., K. Ziervogel, V. Asper, and A. Diercks. 2012. Marine snow formation in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Research Letters 7(3):035301, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/035301.

Powers, S.P., F.J. Hernandez, R.H. Condon, J.M. Drymon, and C.M. Free. 2013. Novel pathways for injury from offshore oil spills: Direct, sublethal and indirect effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on pelagic Sargassum communities. PLoS ONE 8(9):e74802, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074802.

Prouty, N.G., C.R. Fisher, A.W.J. Demopoulos, and E.R.M. Druffel. 2016. Growth rates and ages of deep-sea corals impacted by the DWH oil spill. Deep Sea Research Part II 129:196–212, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2014.10.021.

Prouty, N.G., E.B. Roark, N.A. Buster, and S.W. Ross. 2011. Growth-rate and age distribution of deep-sea black corals in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series 423:101–115, https://doi.org/​10.3354/meps08953

Quintana-Rizzo, E., J.J. Torres, S.W. Ross, I. Romero, K. Watson, E. Goddard, and D. Hollander. 2015. δ13C and δ15N in deep-living fishes and shrimps after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Gulf of Mexico. Marine Pollution Bulletin 94(1):241–250, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.02.002.

Ramirez-Llodra, E., A. Brandt, R. Danovaro, B. DeMol, E. Escobar, C.R. German, L.A. Levin, P. Martinez Arbizu, L. Menot, P. Bul-Mortensen, and others. 2010. Deep, diverse and definitely different: Unique attributes of the world’s largest ecosystem. Biogeosciences 7:2,851–2,899, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-2851-2010.

Ramirez-Llodra, E., P.A. Tyler, M.C. Baker, O.A. Bergstad, M.R. Clark, E. Escobar, L.A. Levin, L. Menot, A.A. Rowden, C.R. Smith, and C.L. Van Dover. 2011. Man and the last great wilderness: Human impact on the deep sea. PLoS ONE 6(7):p.e22588, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022588.

Reddy, C.M., J.S. Arey, J.S. Seewald, S.P. Sylva, K.L. Lemkau, R.K. Nelson, C.A. Carmichael, C.P. McIntyre, J. Fenwick, G.T. Ventura, and others. 2011. Composition and fate of gas and oil released to the water column during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109:20,229–20,234, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1101242108.

Roberts, H.H., C.R. Fisher, B. Bernard, J.M. Brooks, M. Bright, R.S. Carney, E.E. Cordes, S. Hourdez, J.L. Hunt Jr., S.B. Joye, and others. 2007. Alvin explores the deep northern Gulf of Mexico slope. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 88:341–342, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007EO350001.

Rooker, J.R., L.L. Kitchens, M.A. Dance, R.J.D. Wells, B. Falterman, and M. Cormic. 2013. Spatial, temporal, and habitat-related variation in abundance of pelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico: Potential implications of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. PLoS ONE 8(10):e76080, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076080.

Ross, S.W., A.M. Quattrini, A.Y. Roa-Varón, and J.P. McClain. 2010. Species composition and distributions of mesopelagic fishes over the slope of the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Deep Sea Research Part II 57(21):1,926–1,956, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr2.2010.05.008

Rowe, G.T. 2013. Seasonality in deep-sea food webs: A tribute to the early works of Paul Tyler. Deep Sea Research Part II 92:9–17, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr2.2013.01.025.

Rowe, G.T., C. Wei, C. Nunnally, R. Haedrich, P. Montagna, J.G. Baguley, J.M. Bernhard, M. Wicksten, A. Ammons, E. Escobar Briones, and others. 2008. Comparative biomass structure and estimated carbon flow in food webs in the deep Gulf of Mexico. Deep Sea Research Part II 55:2,699–2,711, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.dsr2.2008.07.020.

Sabine, C.L., and R.A. Feely. 2007. The oceanic sink for carbon dioxide. Pp. 31–46 in Greenhouse Gas Sinks. D. Reay, C.N. Hewitt, K. Smith, and J. Grace, eds, CAB International, Oxfordshire, UK.

Schwing, P.T., I.C. Romero, G.R. Brooks, D.W. Hastings, R.A. Larson, and D.J Hollander. 2015. A decline in benthic foraminifera following the Deepwater Horizon event in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. PLoS ONE, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120565.

Scott, N.M., M. Hess, N.J. Bouskill, O.U. Mason, J.K. Jansson, and J.A. Gilbert. 2014. The microbial nitrogen cycling potential is impacted by polyaromatic hydrocarbon pollution of marine sediments. Frontiers in Microbiology 5:1–5, https://doi.org/​10.3389/fmicb.2014.00108.

Silva, M., P.J. Etnoyer, and I.R. MacDonald. 2015. Coral injuries observed at mesophotic Reefs after the Deepwater Horizon oil discharge. Deep Sea Research Part II 129:96–107, https://doi.org/​10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.05.013.

Snyder, S.M., E.L. Pulster, D.L. Wetzel, and S.A. Murawski. 2015. PAH exposure in Gulf of Mexico demersal fishes, post-Deepwater Horizon. Environmental Science & Technology 49:8,786−8,795, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b01870.

Sutton, T.T. 2013. Vertical ecology of the pelagic ocean: Classical patterns and new perspectives. Journal of Fish Biology 83:1,508–1,527, https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12263.

Sutton, T.T., and T.L. Hopkins. 1996. The species composition, abundance and vertical distribution of the stomiid (Pisces: Stomiiformes) fish assemblage of the Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 59(3):530–542. 

Sutton, T.T., T.L. Hopkins, and T.M. Lancraft. 1998. Trophic diversity of a midwater fish community. Pp. 353–357 in Pelagic Biogeography, ICoPB II, Proceedings of the Second International Conference, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Workshop Report No. 142.

Tansel, B., C. Fuentes M. Sanchez, K. Predoi, and M. Acevedo. 2011. Persistence profile of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in shallow and deep Gulf waters and sediments: Effect of water temperature and sediment-water partitioning characteristics. Marine Pollution Bulletin 62:2,659–2,665, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.marpolbul.2011.09.026.

Taylor, B.L., M. Martinez, T. Gerrodette, J. Barlow, and Y.N. Hrovat. 2007. Lessons from monitoring trends in abundance of marine mammals. Marine Mammal Science 23:157–175.

Thurber, A.R., A.K. Sweetman, B.E. Narayanaswamy, D.O.B. Jones, J. Ingels, and R.L. Hansman. 2014. Ecosystem function and services provided by the deep sea. Biogeosciences 11(14):3,941–3,963, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3941-2014.

US Fish and Wildlife Service. 2011. Deepwater Horizon Response Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report. http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/pdfs/ConsolidatedWildlifeTable042011.pdf

Valentine, M.M., and M.C. Benfield. 2013. Characterization of epibenthic and demersal megafauna at Mississippi Canyon 252 shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Marine Pollution Bulletin 77:196–209, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.marpolbul.2013.10.004.

Valentine, D.L., G.B. Fisher, S.C. Bagby, R.K Nelson, C.M Reddy, S.P. Sylva, and M.A. Woo. 2014. Fallout plume of submerged oil from Deepwater Horizon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111:15,906–15,911, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414873111.

Valentine, D.L., J.D. Kessler, M.C. Redmond, S.D. Mendes, M.B. Heinz, C. Farwell, L. Hu, F.S. Kinnaman, S. Yvon-Lewis, M. Du, and others. 2010. Propane respiration jump-starts microbial response to a deep oil spill. Science 330:208–211, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1196830

Walsh, J.J., J.M. Lenes, B.P Darrow, A.A. Parks, R.H. Weisberg, L. Zheng, C. Hu, B.B. Barnes, K.L. Daly, S.I. Shin, and G.R. Brooks. 2015. A simulation analysis of the plankton fate of the Deepwater Horizon oil spills. Continental Shelf Research 107:50–68, https://doi.org/10.1016/​j.csr.2015.07.002.

Washburn, T., A.E.C. Rhodes, and P.A. Montagna. 2016. Benthic taxa as potential indicators of a deep-sea oil spill. Ecological Indicators 71:587–597, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.07.045.

White, H.K., P.-Y. Hsing, T.M. Shank, E.E. Cordes, A.M. Quattrini, R.K. Nelson, R. Camilli, A. Demopouls, C.R. German, J.M. Brooks, and others. 2012a. Impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a deep-water coral community in the Gulf of Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109:20,303–20,308, https://doi.org/​10.1073/pnas.1118029109.

White, H.K., P.-Y. Hsing, T.M. Shank, E.E. Cordes, A.M. Quattrini, R.K. Nelson, R. Camilli, A. Demopouls, C.R. German, J.M. Brooks, and others. 2012b. Reply to Boehm and Carragher: Multiple lines of evidence link deep-water coral damage to Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109:E2648, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1210413109.

White, H.K., S.L. Lyons, S.J. Harrison, D.M. Findley, Y. Liu, and E.B. Kujawinski. 2014. Long-term persistence of dispersants following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Environmental Science & Technology Letters 1:295–299, https://doi.org/10.1021/ez500168r.

Williams, R., S. Gero, L. Bejder, J. Calambokidis, S.D. Kraus, D. Lusseau, A.J. Read, and J. Robbins. 2011. Underestimating the damage: Interpreting cetacean carcass recoveries in the context of the Deepwater Horizon/BP incident. Conservation Letters 4:228–233, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00168.x.

Wormuth, J., P. Ressler, R. Cady, and E. Harris. 2000. Zooplankton and micronekton in cyclones and anticyclones in the northeast Gulf of Mexico. Gulf of Mexico Science 1:23–34. 

Wynne, K., and M. Schwartz. 1999. Guide to Marine Mammals & Turtles of the US Atlantic & Gulf of Mexico. Rhode Island Sea Grant, University of Rhode Island, 114 pp.

Yang, J., and Z. Huang. 1986. The fauna and geographical distribution of deep-pelagic fishes in the South China Sea. Pp. 461–464 in Indo-Pacific Biology: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Indo-Pacific Fishes. T. Uyeno, R. Arai, R. Taniuchi, and K. Matsuura, eds, Ichthyological Society of Japan.

Ylitalo, G.M., M.M. Krahn, W.W. Dickhoff, J.E. Stein, C.C. Walker, C.L. Lassiter, E.S. Garret, L.L. Defosse, K.M. Mitchell, B.T. Noble, and others. 2012. Federal seafood safety response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 109:20,274–20,279, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1108886109.

Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.