KATC TV3: Oil-soaked algae in Port Fourchon, Louisiana: effects go from bottom up

On June 1, 2010, Mike Magnoli of KATC 3 TV Acadiana's News Channel, an affiliate of ABC News in Lafayette, Louisiana, interviewed Suzanne Fredericq, William Schmidt and Shana Callais from the Biology Department, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (http://biology.louisiana.edu) about their observations on the seaweeds (marine macroalgae) they collected on May 27, 2010, on the oil leak-impacted Fourchon Beach, Port Fourchon, Louisiana (Lafourche Parish). The algae are so important for the overall health of the marine ecosystem throughout the Gulf of Mexico because they are at the base of the food chain. Crustaceans, mollusks, fish and other animals depend on algae for the oxygen they produce under water, and they also may eat organisms that live on the algae. It was noted that offshore specimens of the brown seaweed Sargassum found in the drift were extensively coated with oil, whereas the nearshore algae appeared superficially "normal".

Many thanks to the Port Fourchon Operations Center, the Louisiana State Police, and the Hazmat clean-up team for granting clearance to access the Fourchon Beach "Hot Zone" in order to collect drift and nearshore seaweeds for biodiversity research on the marine algae from the Gulf of Mexico.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• phycology
• tropical
• subtropical