Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 94, Issue 1-2, Pages 241-250Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.02.002
Keywords
Mesopelagic fauna; Stable isotopes; Deepwater Horizon; Gulf of Mexico; Oil spill
Funding
- RAPID grant National Science Foundation [OCE-1047693]
- USF Office of Sponsored Research
- Florida Institute of Oceanography
- Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey [05HQAG0009, 05099HS004]
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The blowout of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drill-rig produced a surface oil layer, dispersed micro-droplets throughout the water column, and sub-surface plumes. We measured stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in mesopelagic fishes and shrimps in the vicinity of DWH collected prior to, six weeks after, and one year after the oil spill (2007, 2010 and 2011). In 2010, the year of the oil spill, a small but significant depletion of delta C-13 was found in two mesopelagic fishes (Gonostoma elongatum and Chauliodus sloani) and one shrimp (Systellaspis debilis); a significant delta N-15 enrichment was identified in the same shrimp and in three fish species (G. elongatum, Ceratoscopelus warmingii, and Lepidophanes guentheri). The delta N-15 change did not suggest a change of trophic level, but did indicate a change in diet. The data suggest that carbon from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was incorporated into the mesopelagic food web of the Gulf of Mexico. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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