Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Characterization Of Epibenthic And Demersal Megafauan At Mississippi Canyon 252 Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Marla Maxine Valentine

LSU Master's Theses

Increased demand for new sources of oil and gas has resulted in an expansion of drilling into deeper waters. With this exploratory drilling come increased risks, which were realized on April 20, 2010 when the blow out preventer on the Macondo Well failed, resulting in the release of a large quantity of oil and gas into the Northern Gulf of Mexico from a bathypelagic source. This unprecedented environmental disaster was coined the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill by the popular news media. In the months that followed the spill, the lack of knowledge about the pre-spill condition of deep-sea communities in …