Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

In the 5 years since the ‪#‎DeepwaterHorizon‬ oil spill, academic and independent scientists along with state and federal agencies -- including NOAA and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management -- have been collaborating to study just how this oil spill and response affected the deep ocean and seafloor of the Gulf. What they found was the "footprint" of the oil spill on the seafloor stamped on sickened deep-sea ‪#‎corals‬ and out-of-balance communities of tiny marine invertebrates:https://usresponserestoration.wordpress.com/…/at-the-botto…/

Photo 1: This is what healthy Paramuricea biscaya colonies, the coral species most heavily impacted within the footprint of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, are supposed to look like. Brittle stars cling to the coral. This photo of healthy coral was taken in 2011 during a Natural Resource Damage Assessment research cruise aboard the Holiday Chouest. (NOAA photo.)

Photo 2 (seafloor): This coral, covered almost entirely in a clumpy brown material containing petroleum droplets and known as “floc,” shows signs of recent impact less than 7 miles from the source of leaking oil. Brittle stars cling to the coral. 2010 photo. (Credit: White et al. 2012)