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Marine Biology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology

Oil Spill Preparedness Planning: Filling Critical Species Data Gaps Using Habitat Suitability Modelling, Candice St. Germain, Jessica Finney, Cole Fields, Edward Gregr, Lucie Hannah, Sharon Jeffery Apr 2018

Oil Spill Preparedness Planning: Filling Critical Species Data Gaps Using Habitat Suitability Modelling, Candice St. Germain, Jessica Finney, Cole Fields, Edward Gregr, Lucie Hannah, Sharon Jeffery

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Under the World Class Tanker Safety System Initiative (WCTSS) a national framework was developed to identify marine biological organisms most vulnerable to ship-source oil spills. The Pacific regional application of this framework identified 27 highly vulnerable biological groups, with sea grasses, salt marsh grasses/succulents, sea otters, and baleen whales at the top of the list. A gap analysis during the Pacific regional application identified critical species data gaps that must now be filled to ensure effective response in marine oil spill emergencies. In the absence of robust species distribution and abundance data, habitat suitability models can be used to predict …


Challenges With Accurate Tracking Of Oil Spill Trajectories Within Puget Sound, Jonathan Whiting, Tarang Khangaonkar Apr 2018

Challenges With Accurate Tracking Of Oil Spill Trajectories Within Puget Sound, Jonathan Whiting, Tarang Khangaonkar

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Risk of oil spill within the Salish Sea has recently been highlighted by the construction of Canada’s Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain Expansion Project, which is expected to increase oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Juan de Fuca by over 400 tankers per year. Complex circulation patterns in this high-energy fjord complicates the tracking of spills to aid both prevention and response. PNNL’s Salish Sea Model has been refined for over a decade and represents the leading hydrodynamic model for the region. In a recent project, the Salish Sea Model was paired with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s General NOAA …


Modeling Potential Population-Level Impacts Of Localized Oil Spills On Puget Sound Pacific Herring Stocks, Julann Spromberg, Sarah Allan, Nathaniel L. Scholz Apr 2018

Modeling Potential Population-Level Impacts Of Localized Oil Spills On Puget Sound Pacific Herring Stocks, Julann Spromberg, Sarah Allan, Nathaniel L. Scholz

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Localized oil spills that contaminate nearshore spawning areas pose a threat to developing Pacific herring embryos. Fish embryos are particularly susceptible to the developmental toxicity of oil derived PAHs, which can be acutely lethal or, at lower exposure doses, lead to permanent changes in heart structure, craniofacial morphology, and metabolic processes that cause delayed mortality, or more subtle delayed impacts that may be associated with premature subadult mortality. A variety of localized oil spill scenarios simulating direct and delayed mortality to young of the year were used to examine the potential response of Puget Sound stocks. The healthy stocks remaining …


Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolites As A Biomarker Of Exposure To Oil In Demersal Fishes Following The Deepwater Horizon Blowout, Susan Susan Snyder Nov 2014

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolites As A Biomarker Of Exposure To Oil In Demersal Fishes Following The Deepwater Horizon Blowout, Susan Susan Snyder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Deepwater Horizon blowout occurred on April 20th, 2010, releasing 4.9 million barrels of Louisiana crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Subsequent to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, sediment cores revealed oil on the northern GoM seafloor and abnormal skin lesions were seen in GoM fishes. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a component of crude oil, in fish has been associated with many sublethal effects, including cancer and population-level effects. Using a biomarker of exposure to PAHs, this thesis evaluates inter-species, temporal and spatial differences in exposure to hydrocarbon contamination between three species of fish with varying levels …


De Novo Transcriptome Analysis Of The Marine Sponge Cinachyrella Spp: A Potential Model Organism For Oil And Dispersant Ecotoxicology, Emily Smith May 2013

De Novo Transcriptome Analysis Of The Marine Sponge Cinachyrella Spp: A Potential Model Organism For Oil And Dispersant Ecotoxicology, Emily Smith

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

In order to study the potential effects of an oil spill on coral reef organisms, the marine sponge, Cinachyrella spp. was investigated. In this study, Cinachyrella spp. was placed in a closed aquaculture system and exposed to sub-lethal water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of Macondo crude oil and chemically-enhanced water accommodated fractions (CE-WAFs) of the dispersant, Corexit 9500, over a 24-hour time course, in order to model the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and oil spill sponge response. Illumina RNA sequencing and gene expression analysis utilizing hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis, and KEGG bioinformatic database generated 34,147 unique transcripts with …