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Oil Spill Response Considerations for Pelagic Sargassum
DescriptionSargassum is a floating macroalgae or seaweed primarily found in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic regions in U.S. waters. Sargassum occurs at the ocean surface and aggregates into offshore drift lines and large patches that are important habitat for wildlife and fisheries resources. Sargassum can also be important when it strands onshore, positively influencing beach geomorphology, ecology, and wildlife. Due to its floating presence at the sea surface, accumulation in convergence zones, and stranding on shorelines, sargassum has a high degree of potential interaction with spilled oil and response activities. Oil and response actions can cause substantial sargassum habitat, wildlife, and fisheries impacts, and sargassum can complicate response operations. An expanded sargassum range and larger than normal sargassum blooms in recent years have resulted in mass algae influx and stranding events in nearshore and onshore areas that can have negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts, even in the absence of oil. Periodic large sargassum blooms and mass stranding events are linked to global climate and ecosystem change, and further heighten the need to examine oil spill preparedness and response considerations for this resource, due to increased sargassum abundance and the interaction of multiple stressors (oil spills, algal blooms, climate). By understanding the ecology of sargassum, learning from past oil spills and responses, and incorporating other recent information on sargassum blooms and influx events, responders can better plan for and make appropriate decisions for how to respond to future oil spills involving this resource. This paper focuses on oil spill response considerations for pelagic sargassum as a subset of a recent NOAA job-aid developed for this topic, released in July 2023.
Event Type
Paper
TimeThursday, May 16th8:20am - 8:40am CDT
Location291-292
Tags
Response