VIMS prof studies fish affected by BP oil spill

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Scientists are conducting the first surveys of deep-sea life in the Gulf of Mexico since last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

 

The expeditions, organized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, aim to gauge the spill's effect on sharks, squid, marlin and other fish found at depths where scientists spotted large underwater oil plumes last year.

 

"NOAA realized that there's very little information available for what lives deep in the gulf," Tracey Sutton, a Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor, said in a statement last week.

 

Sutton, who has previously studied deep-sea fish in the gulf, is leading the expeditions. They are part of NOAA's Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program, which is designed to restore habitats damaged by oil spills and other calamities.........................

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