Press Release

• Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
  • Nancy Rabalais, Chief Scientist
  • Nazan Atilla
  • Brenda Leroux Babin
  • Jenn Lasseigne
  • Lora Pride
  • Adam Sapp
• Louisiana State University
  • Melissa Baustian
  • Anindita Das
  • Jim Lee
  • Ron Stanford
• Harvard School of Public Health
  • Laurel Schaider
  • Dave Senn
• Centenary College
  • Elizabeth Robinson

Projects

• Hydrographic surveys, mapping of low oxygen area and associated physical, chemical and biological parameters
• Methyl mercury characterization and processes
• Microphytobenthos
• Paleoindicators, benthic foraminiferans
• Oxygen isotopic signatures

Principal Investigators

• Nancy Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
• R. E. Turner, Louisiana State University
• Chunyan Li, Louisiana State University
• Greg Stone, Louisiana State University
• Dave Senn, Harvard University School of Public Health

Additional investigators in absentia

• Dubravko Justić and Bryan Fry, Louisiana State University

Funded by

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research, NGOMEX Hypoxia Studies (Rabalais et al.), and NOAA, Oceans and Human Health Initiative (Senn et al.)

July 20, 2006 – Day 0

1900 Prep for cruise, Happy Birthday Melissa

July 21, 2006 – Day 1

0010 Depart Cocodrie on R/V Pelican

1000 Arrive Southwest Pass, Mississippi River

Calm, hot, isolated thundershowers

1300 Complete water sampling in Mississippi River

Collection of salinity gradient/nutrient concentrations

Collection of Miss R end member for methyl mercury study

1400 Deploy towed ADCP

1500 Begin hydrographic stations on transect A' and on to transect

Extremely low oxygen levels in bottom waters within the 20- to 25-m isobath

Portunid crabs at water surface over hypoxic bottom waters

High phytoplankton biomass and supersaturated surface waters (>200%)

Mercury methylation box core station

2400 Complete 2 box core stations on transect A

July 22, 2006 – Day 2

Calm, slight chop, isolated thundershowers

0200 Complete box core station on transect A

0800 Complete transect A and steam to transect B, LUMCON Fourchon camp on the horizon

1800 Complete transect B

Hypoxic bottom-waters from 5 to 30 m depth

Seas reaching to 2 ft, occasional 3 ft, 9 to 15 kn winds SSW, slowed speed for towed ADCP

Several super tankers at the LOOP (Louisiana Offshore Oil Port) facility

1900 Begin transect C

Spinner sharks!!! Juvenile flying fish!!!

Series of box cores at multiple stations on transect C for microphytobenthos

Portunid crabs at the water surface over bottom water with low oxygen.

July 23, 2006 – Day 3

0100 Tow for bulk plankton mercury and methyl mercury determination

0300 Station C6C, site of moored instruments. No diving. Night dives are for the Caribbean, not Gulf of Mexico oil platforms.

0800 Winds 15 kn SSW, choppy

0900 Complete box core series for transect C

1100 Return to C6C to dive and exchange oxygen meter. Frontal passage and squalls as we prepared to dive. Winds 15 kn from the north and building seas. Aborted.

1200 Begin transect D'

1930 Finish transect D' and head west to southern end of transect D.

Extensive hypoxia along transect D' to a depth of 35+ m. Value in 42 m was < 3 mg/L.

Most of the afternoon in transit was spent outrunning the front as we headed south finishing the station before the frontal margin reached us. Winds 12-15 kn from the SSW then the SSE.

2100 Begin transect D, complete box coring at D3

Continued low oxygen along this transect.

Where values between 1 to 2 mg/L, dense population of centric diatom Coccinodiscus on chlorophyll filters

Sediment surface at D3 covered with pinnate diatoms

July 24, 2006 – Day 4

0700 Complete transect D nearshore, head west to E1

Hypoxia very close to shore, Isle Dernieres

Stalled frontal system, 13 kn SSW, 3 ft swells

1800 Complete transect E, box coring at E2A by the ‘B’ team and E6 by Senn.

2000 Begin transect F, offshore

Box core at deepest station, 40 m, Senn

Continuation of hypoxia in mid to deeper depths

Stalled frontal system turns into 20 kn winds with 4 to 5 ft swells as a tropical depression forms in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Watching this as closely as the CTD profiles.

July 25, 2006 – Day 5

Happy Birthday Kyle!

0200 Box core F3

Pennate diatoms across the sediment surface, evidence of oxidized Fe, Terrebellid and Ampharetid worms at sediment surface, alive but in 0.3 mg/L oxygen

0600 Complete transect F

Seas calm after F3, but before were quite high

Lower and near anoxic bottom-waters in the mid depth stations of transect F

Winds at 19 kn from ESE

Ballyhoo in dip net

0800 Begin transect G nearshore, calm but dark clouds to the south in the direction of the low pressure system

Fooled us, seas back to 4 ft with higher swells

More fooling around, seas up to 6 to 8 ft swells, wind 27 to 30 kn

Hypoxia in the mid depth stations of transect G

1700 Head to offshore end of transect H, calm enough to box core H6, Senn

Sea cucumbers and a mud crab in single core

Hypoxia in mid depth stations of transect H, mixed nearshore

July 26, 2006 – Day 6

0000 Finish transect H, able to box core at H3

0300 Transit to transect I nearshore

Inshore stations of transects H and I well mixed

0630 More hypoxia at mid depth stations on transect I

More winds, up to 30 kn, more seas, 6 to 8, less words

No box coring on transect I

0900 No map as yet, map-maker exhausted .

1000 Seas up to 10 ft, water column mixed to 15 m, still some hypoxia in approx. 20 m depths

1200 Continue on transect J, seas continue

1700 Able to box core transect J at station 4

1900 Hypoxia at mid depth stations on transect J

July 27, 2006 – Day 7

0000 Continue transect J

Continued rough seas

0300 Move west to transect K

No box coring

0500 Hypoxia mid depths on transect K

0700 Transit to offshore end of transect M and approaching Louisiana/Texas border

1000 Close off hypoxic bottom area on M line

1100 Return to transect K and complete box core

1200 Transit to J5 to CTD, transit to I4

1700 Complete box core transect I, several stomatopods (mantis shrimp) in cores, transit to G3

2300 Complete box core transect G, transit to D3

July 28, 2006 – Day 8

0500 Box core station D3

0630 Transit to C6C to change oxygen meter at bottom

0930 Dive aborted, dive boat not functional, will try next week

1030 Depart for Cocodrie

1400 Arrive at dock

ESTIMATED SIZE OF BOTTOM-WATER HYPOXIA for 2006 is 17,280 square kilometers (or 6,662 square miles) about the size of the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined.