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February 2, 2011

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The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: What can we learn from this disaster?

Presented by: Audra Livergood, Will Underwood and Atziri Ibanez

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LIVE INTERACTIVE LEARNING @ YOUR DESKTOP

February 2, 2011

6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Eastern time

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: What can we learn from this disaster?

Presented by: Audra Livergood, Will Underwood and Atziri Ibanez

Your Presenters

Audra Livergood, Marine Resource Manager,

NOAA Fisheries

Will Underwood, Stewardship Coordinator,

Grand Bay NERR

Atziri Ibañez,NERRS National

Education Coordinator

What is an estuary? What are some examples of estuaries along the Gulf Coast?

PART ONE

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Poll QuestionPoll Question

a. The land area that drains water into a lake, river, or pond.b. The area where a river meets the ocean, where fresh and

salt water mix.c. The large body of salt water that covers most of the

earth's surface.d. The underground system that provides drinking water to

an area.

What is an estuary?

Deepwater Horizon oil spillOn Tuesday, April 20, 2010 an explosion rocked the oil

drilling platform.

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Five key estuaries in danger of being impacted by the oil spill

Mission Aransas NERR (Texas)

Weeks Bay NERR (Alabama)

MANERR Has the only naturally migrating population of whooping cranes in the world Total Acreage: 185,708 Designation: 2006

Weeks Bay NERR Provide habitat for rare and endangered species including the brown pelican, eastern indigo snake, and the Alabama red-bellied turtle. Total Acreage: 6,525 Designation: 1986

Apalachicola NERR (Florida)

Rookery Bay NERR (Florida)

Apalachicola NERR The West Indian manatee, the Indiana bat and the gray bat are endangered species that make their home at the Reserve Total Acreage: 246,000 Designation: 1979

Rookery Bay NERR Is a prime example of a nearly pristine subtropical mangrove forested estuary Total Acreage: 110,000 Designation: 1978

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How many class or activity periods of estuary instruction do your students receive in a typical school year?

[Place clip art on the continuum below]

1 to 2 classes per year

None

3 to 5 classes per year

6 to 15 classes per year

More than 15 classes per year

• Your Source for Learning and Teaching About Estuaries

• Video Gallery• Estuaries 101

Curriculum• Access to real-time

data with graphing capabilities

• Species Factsheets

http://estuaries.gov/

Resources 1Resources 1

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Let’s pause for questions

Where and what is the Grand Bay Reserve?

PART TWO

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About Grand Bay NERR (MS)

• Established in 1999

• Represents the Louisianian bio-geographic region

Approximately 18,000 acres (28 sq. mi.) of emergent marsh, pine flatwoods, and pine savannas

Grand Bay is located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico to the east of the Mississippi river

The drilling site was approximately 150 miles SSW of the Grand Bay NERR

Mobile delta area often influence the waters of the Grand Bay NERR

Bayou Heron

Bayou Cumbest

Grand Bay Reserve boundary

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How were the Grand Bay marshes formed?

• Where rivers meet the sea?

• Currently little freshwater input from uplands

• Pre-historic origin of marshes formed by Pascagoula and Escatawpa Rivers

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What makes Grand Bay important?• Marshes serve as

nursery ground

• Provides protection from dangerous storm surge

• Marshes filter nutrients

• Commercial and recreational fishing

• Outdoor recreation

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Natural & Anthropogenic Stressors• Hurricanes

• Erosion

• Invasive species

• Loss of sediments through dredging

• Decreased air and water quality

• Industrial disasters

• Overharvest of fishery

Mississippi Phosphates Spill

Estuaries 101 Curriculum

http://estuaries.gov/

What can we learn from ongoing monitoring at the Grand Bay Reserve?

PART THREE

I. Abiotic MonitoringWater Quality & Nutrients

Weather Parameters

II. Biological MonitoringHabitat Change

Biodiversity

III. Land Cover/Use and Habitat Change

Spatial Patterns

Human Impacts

System-Wide Monitoring ProgramObserving short-term variability and long-term changes in estuarine environments

Water quality data is collected at 15 or 30 minute intervals at 4 locations within or adjacent to a research reserve. Weather data is collected within or adjacent to

a research reserve at 5 second intervals.

Monitoring Water Quality & Weather Data

SWMP Data-logger

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Mapping, Monitoring, Research

• Critical for protection of natural resource

• Primary responsibility of research and stewardship staff in the reserve system

• Provides baseline information important in assessing damage from disasters

Fine-Scale Marsh Habitat Delineation

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Sea Grass Communities at GBNERR

• Data in the Classroom

• Three curriculum modules: El Nino, Sea Level & Water Quality

• Grades 6-8

• Downloadable materials

• Correlated to National Standards in Science, Mathematics , Geography & the Ocean Literacy Concepts

Resources 2Resources 2

http://www.dataintheclassroom.org

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Let’s pause for questions

How did the oil spill and the response effect the Grand Bay Reserve?

PART FOUR

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• Rig explosion, 4/20

• Booming initiated, 5/4

• 1st rig debris/tarballs, 6/4

• 1st oil at reserve, 6/12

• Temporary cap installed, 7/15

• Targeted boom removal, 8/31

• Response ongoing

Sequence of Events

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Plan for the Worst

• Identify Critical Resources

• Review Existing Response Plans

• Prioritize Critical Areas…Limited Response Resource

• Identify Areas Sensitive to Response Damage

• Learn and Adapt to Incident Command System

• Begin Collecting Baseline Samples

• Provide Site Specific Technical Support

Contingency Plan outlines booming needed

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Extensive pre-oil samples were collected

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Poll QuestionPoll Question

Based on their research, scientists have learned that it is always preferable to clean up an oiled salt marsh as opposed to simply leaving it alone to recover naturally.

A True B False

Installing booming is a delicate process in shallow waters

Airboats were used to install boom

Three types of boom were installed

Hard boom

Pom-pom boom

Waiting for the Worst

Signs of the spill on GBNERR appeared as debris

Dispersed oil at GBNERR

Oiled boom at GBNERR

Large patches of oil were stranded on the GBNERR marshes

Storm events had a damaging effect on boom

Understanding key features of an estuary – key to protecting it

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Poll QuestionPoll Question

Which of the following factors may help the Gulf of Mexico to recover from the BP oil spill more quickly than did Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez spill? Warmer water temperature

Presence of natural oil eating microbes

Chemical composition of the crude spilled

None of the factors listed

All of the factors here listed

[Place clip art on your selection above]

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What is NRDA? – Natural Resource Damage Assessment

• A legal process to determine - Injuries to or lost use of the public’s natural resources- Appropriate amount & type of restoration needed to offset losses

• NERR staff involved in technical working groups

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How do we clean up oil at Grand Bay?• In most cases, clean up

is not recommended in Juncus marshes

• Mechanical cleanup methods might harm sensitive habitats

• Environmental stewardship

• Important concept for students to understand and practice

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Opportunities for Restoration

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Long-Term Monitoring

• Continue shoreline assessment work to look for stranded oil

• PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) sediment testing

• Continue monitoring natural resources

• Analyze trends in resource abundance

• Estuaries can serve as the nexus for teaching earth, life, and physical sciences

• Extensive research, mapping, and monitoring are necessary to analyze short and long-term changes/impacts from the oil spill

• Applying lessons learned, in terms of planning and response to past oil spills, can help better prepare our future leaders

• Understanding the impacts of the oil spill is a continuous process that will require direct observation and analysis of key archived and real-time data

Take Home Message

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Let’s pause for questions

Where can I find educational resources about estuaries and the oil spill?

PART FIVE

Teacher Professional Development Opportunities

• Visit the Estuaries.Gov site to find teacher training opportunities

• Sign-Up to receive the NERRS Education BulletinWe will announce upcoming opportunities

• Help Field Test the Estuaries 101 Middle Grade CurriculumAt the end of 2011 we will form a team of reviewers who will test the activities

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• Oil Spill Educational Resources

• Multimedia• Animation • Lessons and

Activities• Real World Data• Background

Information• Career Profiles

Resources 3Resources 3

http://www.education.noaa.gov/Ocean_and_Coasts/Oil_Spill.html

NOAA Oil Spill ResourcesTeaching Resources About Estuarieshttp://Estuaries.Gov

NOAA Deepwater Horizon Archivehttp://www.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon/

NOAA Oil Spill Educational Resourceshttp://www.education.noaa.gov/Ocean_and_Coasts/Oil_Spill.html

Quiz: Prince William's Oily Mess: A Tale of Recoveryhttp://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/stories/oilymess/welcome.html

Exploring the Gulf of Mexico's Deep-Sea Ecosystems Education Materials Collectionhttp://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/edu/guide/welcome.html

NOAA Office of Response & Restoration (activities for the classroom0http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/audience_catalog.php?RECORD_KEY%28audience_chosen%29=audience_id&audience_id(audience_chosen)=2

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List of “Other” Oil Spill ResourcesCOSEE series of PowerPoints and hands-on activities http://coseenow.net/blog/oil-spill-resources/

The Bridgehttp://www2.vims.edu/bridge/search/bridge1output_menu.cfm?q=spill

Oil Spill Impacts on Coastal Wetlands of the Mississippi River Deltahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syGM13egoc0

Smithsonian Ocean Portal Oil Spill Pagehttp://ocean.si.edu/ocean-and-you/gulf-oil-spill

The Gulf Loop Current Activityhttp://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/beach_debris/content/pdf/gulf-loop-current.pdf

EE Week's Oil Spill Resources offer a webinar on Teaching About the Gulf Oil Spill http://www.eeweek.org/oil_spill.htm

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Thank you!

For more information:Re: Estuaries in the National Estuarine

Research Reserve System – Contact: Atziri Ibanez (atziri.ibanez@noaa.gov)

Learn more: NOAA Deepwater Horizon Archive

http://www.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon/

Thank you to the sponsor of tonight's

Web Seminar:

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http://www.elluminate.com

National Science Teachers AssociationDr. Francis Q. Eberle, Executive Director

Zipporah Miller, Associate Executive Director Conferences and Programs

Al Byers, Assistant Executive Director e-Learning

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