Gulf of Mexico Science Back Issues Archived

Ecology. Better science needed for restoration in the Gulf of Mexico.

T he 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) has damaged marine ecosystems and jeopardized endangered and commercial species under U.S. jurisdiction (see the figure). Agencies that manage protected species—including the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service— are tasked with recovering these populations. But many populations have no...

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

Seasonally severe and persistent hypoxia, or low dissolved oxygen concentration, occurs on the inner- to mid-Louisiana continental shelf to the west of the Mississippi River and Atchafalaya River deltas. The estimated areal extent of bottom dissolved oxygen concentration less than 2 mg L-1 during mid-summer surveys of 1993-2000 reached as high as 16,000 to 20,000 km2. The distribution for a sim...

Diet and trophic level of scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini) from the Gulf of California and Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico

We examined the diet and trophic level of Sphyrna lewini in the Gulf of California (GC) during 2001 and in the Gulf of Tehuantepec (GT) during 2005 using data from stomach content and stable isotope analysis of δ15N and δ13C. S. lewini diet was represented by pelagic and benthic prey species where the most important in weight was Scomber japonicus (27.70±4.54%) in GC, while in GT it was Auxis s...

Diet and trophic level of scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini) from the Gulf of California and Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico

We examined the diet and trophic level of Sphyrna lewini in the Gulf of California (GC) during 2001 and in the Gulf of Tehuantepec (GT) during 2005 using data from stomach content and stable isotope analysis of δ15N and δ13C. S. lewini diet was represented by pelagic and benthic prey species where the most important in weight was Scomber japonicus (27.70±4.54%) in GC, while in GT it was Auxis s...

Back to the future: The history of acroporid corals at the Flower Garden Banks, Gulf of Mexico, USA