RAPID: Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon crude oil spill on the diversity of macroalgae and macrocrustaceans inhabiting deepwater hard banks in the NW, NE and SE Gulf of Mexico

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This project will use two five-day-long ship-based sampling expeditions centered on previously studied hard banks in the Gulf of Mexico to assess pre- and post-oil spill impacts on the diversity, vitality, and distribution of the offshore seaweeds and macrocrustaceans (e.g. shrimp, crabs) living at depths of 45-90 meters. A comparison of the results of the current inventory with the inventories from previous surveys in the same region will be informative in terms of which species of benthic seaweed and crustaceans are most sensitive to oil pollution, and also allow predictions of their potential to subsequently recover from this ecological disaster.Marine algae are the principal producers of oxygen in the marine ecosystem, and their die-off may affect the entire food chain and result in the expansion of an already existing "dead zone" throughout the Gulf. Post-spill changes in the diversity, population structure, and reproductive capacity of benthic seaweeds and macrocrustaceans (and other invertebrates) are measureable when compared to a large dataset from pre-spill sampling. Detection and quantification of these effects will reflect potential impacts of the oil spill in sensitive deep bank environments. All material collected from each trip will be sorted, identified, and the associated information entered into web-accessible databases. This effort will involve both undergraduate and graduate students.