PhD Defense Travis Washburn

SUBJECT: The Effects of Oil on the Deep Gulf of Mexico Benthos

SPEAKER: Travis Washburn

DATE: February 21, 2017

ADVISOR: Dr. Paul Montagna

TIME: 11:00

PLACE: HRI 127

ABSTRACT

The deep sea is the largest habitat on Earth, yet we know less about this environment than the surface of the moon. While deep sea is far removed from most human activities, the recent Deepwater Horizon blowout demonstrated the increasing human effects on this ecosystem. The goal of the current study is to provide an understanding of how oil affects bottom communities of the deep Gulf of Mexico. Macrofauna communities were compared near the wellhead with natural hydrocarbon seeps. Communities near the Deepwater Horizon wellhead were characterized by reduced diversity and abundance as well as different community structure compared to background communities. Likewise, hydrocarbon seep communities were different from the oil spill sites and background communities, and exhibited high variability among seeps. To understand how these changes may affect humans, ecosystem services provided by the deep sea were also studied with a focus on the ability of the environment to remove wastes. Stakeholders identified several ecosystem services provided by the offshore Gulf of Mexico with the most valuable being associated with direct benefits such as fishing. The natural removal of oil following the Deepwater Horizon blowout was estimated to save billions of dollars in cleanup activities. This study demonstrates that oil has severe effects on deep-sea habitats, and that the deep sea is important to humans. Communication of deep-sea services can provide the public with motivation to care about the fate of the deep sea. These findings will be important to shape future policies and practices involving human activities in the deep sea, and especially the next offshore oil spill.