Marine Ecosystem - GoKawiil

Study: Gulf deep-sea life still depleted a decade after Deepwater Horizon spill

New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that mesopelagic animal populations in the northern Gulf of Mexico—including octopus, krill, squid, shrimp and lanternfish—fell by 60 to 85 percent within three and a half years of the 2011 Deepwater Horizon spill, with little recovery since. After ruling out factors like temperature and oxygen levels, researchers concluded the BP oil and gas blowout was the most likely cause of what they called the fastest and most severe faunal decline ever documented for this type of ecosystem.

wired.com · 2026-10-25

Study: Gulf of Mexico deep-sea species still down 60% since 2010 BP spill

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that populations of octopus, squid, krill, shrimp, and lanternfish in the Gulf of Mexico fell by at least 60 percent in the years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster and have shown little sign of recovery 16 years later. Researchers based the findings on acoustic surveys and thousands of net samples across a wide area of the deep sea, and also documented reduced genetic diversity in affected populations.

e360.yale.edu · 2026-10-20