Survey of benthic habitats, in particular sea grass beds, along the northern shores of the MS barrier islands that constitute the Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS; National Park Service) as part of the efforts to obtain baseline information prior to the potential oil impacts from the Deepwater Horizon incident.
Location
West and East Ship Island, MS and Horn Island, MS
Summary
Continuous Benthic Habitat mapping of seagrass beds using the ATRIS boat-mounted system. Areas surveyed were along the northern shores of West and East Ship Islands and Horn Island. In addition, sediment cores (6-inch long) were collected and frozen for microbiological studies; 50-ml centrifuge tubes with 20 ml of bottom sediment and stained with Rose Bengal for foraminiferal characterizations; and whirl-pak bags of bottom sediment for other geochemical and grain size analyses.
Info derived
Images of seafloor (seagrass) using ATRIS; sediment collection for grain size, foraminifera, microbial community characterization, trace metals.
Comments
This field activity is being conducted as part of the efforts to obtain baseline information prior to the potential oil impacts from the Deepwater Horizon incident. Additional equipment: plastic core liners, centrifuge tubes, whirl-pak baggies.
**This notice is to remind Department of the Interior employees, contractors and volunteers of their ongoing legal obligation to preserve information related to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill as required by the preservation notice issued May 4, 2010, by the Office of the Solicitor. The Preservation Notice requires the preservation of all documents, data, and artifacts that contain information related to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and any activities related to the oil spill response, recovery, and clean-up. Please follow the link below to review the May 4, 2010, Preservation Notice and June 4, 2010, Preservation Reminder and FAQs.
https://portal.doi.net/c/deepwater/Memos/Forms/AllItems.aspx
