Assessing Impacts on Coastal Wetlands of Oil Released from Deepwater Horizon

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that more than 500 km of Louisiana’s marsh shoreline was oiled following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and subsequent oil release in the northern Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. USFWS reported that 100 km of the 500 km of affected shoreline was moderately to heavily oiled. An informed assessment of the extent and nature of the oil impacts is necessary for determining coastal areas that should be monitored for adverse impacts and efficiently directing recovery activities. Field surveys of coastal Louisiana were conducted once in July and twice in August of 2010 to help assess direct impacts of released oil. Marshes surrounding Barataria Bay and near the terminus of the Mississippi River, also known as the Bird’s Foot, were surveyed. Lightly and heavily oiled habitats were observed and documented with photography, including vegetative responses. A separate method, remotely-collected, advanced radar imagery, was used to help assess oil distribution on northern Gulf of Mexico coastal wetlands, including Barataria Bay.  Development and testing of the radar imagery was conducted to attempt detection of oil beneath the vegetative canopy. The remote images were collected in June 2009 and June 2010, allowing for a comparison of results before and after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon event. Photographs of lightly and heavily oiled habitats in Barataria Bay and the Bird’s Foot and some of the radar results from Barataria Bay are displayed in this presentation. Additional future data collections are anticipated using both of the methods described here to help document longer-term ecosystem response and recovery.