Characterization of Epibenthic and Demersal Megafauan at Mississippi Canyon 252 Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2013 Characterization of Epibenthic and Demersal Megafauan at Mississippi Canyon 252 Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Marla Maxine Valentine Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons Recommended Citation Valentine, Marla Maxine, "Characterization of Epibenthic and Demersal Megafauan at Mississippi Canyon 252 Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" (2013). LSU Master's Theses. 2869. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/2869 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CHARACTERIZATION OF EPIBENTHIC AND DEMERSAL MEGAFAUNA AT MISSISSIPPI CANYON 252 FOLLOWING THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences by Marla Maxine Valentine B.S. Salem College, 2009 May 2013 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Mark Benfield for his invaluable guidance and support throughout this project. I would also like to express my gratitude to my committee, Dr. Robert Carney and Dr. Kanchan Maiti, for their helpful comments and advice. I especially appreciate all of the time and effort my committee members and advisor have given to the preparation of my thesis. I am very grateful for field and lab assistance from Stuart Cook, Megan Ferguson, and Matt Kupchick. Thanks to Stephanie Sharuga for the endless hours of debate and discussion, this made the seeminly unending review of footage more bearable. I would also like to thank the officers and crew of the MV Olympic Challenger, the Development Driller II, and the HOS Sweetwater, as well as the navigation and ROV teams who made this research possible. Russell Putt was instrumental in facilitating access to these vessels. This experience would not have been possible without the support of my family and friends, who were always ready with a helping hand. I would especially like to thank my father, John Valentine, for his unconditional love, support, and insight. I would also like to thank my little sister, Emma Valentine, who will always be my little munchkin and the light of my life. Many thanks to my mother Donna Willis for her ever-ready ear and assistance with commas. Finally I would like to thank my dearest friend Theodore Johnson for always pushing me to do my best and for his assistance in every computer crisis. This research was funded through a contract awarded by BP Exploration and Production Company to Louisiana State University. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................1 1.1 Deep sea Megafauna ..................................................................................................1 1.2 Deep-sea Sampling Methods .....................................................................................3 1.3 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill .....................................................................................4 1.4 Thesis Goals and Objectives ......................................................................................5 1.5 Literature Cited ..........................................................................................................6 CHAPTER 2: CHARACTERIZATIONS OF EPIBENTHIC AND DEMERSAL MEGAFAUNA AT MISSISSIPPI CANYON 252 SHORTLY AFTER THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL ...........................................................................................................................................8 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................8 2.2 Methods ....................................................................................................................10 2.2.1 Post-Spill Surveys ...........................................................................................10 2.2.2 Pre-Spill Surveys ............................................................................................14 2.3 Results …………………………………………………………………...….…..... 16 2.3.1 Taxonomic Composition Among Sites ...........................................................20 2.3.2 Density Among Sites ......................................................................................20 2.3.3 Mortality .........................................................................................................27 2.3.4 Pre- and Post-Spill Abundance Indices ...........................................................30 2.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................30 2.5 Conclusions ..............................................................................................................41 2.6 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................44 CHAPTER 3: COMPOSISTION OF EPIBENTHIC AND DEMERSAL MEGAFAUNA COMMUNITIES IN THE VICINITY OF THE MC252 RELIEF WELL 2, DURING THE LATE SUMMER AND FALL OF 2010 ...................................................................................48 3.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................48 3.2 Methods ....................................................................................................................50 3.3 Results ......................................................................................................................54 3.3.1 Density Over Time ..........................................................................................56 3.3.2 Densities ..........................................................................................................56 3.3.3 Mortality .........................................................................................................69 3.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................69 3.5 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................73 3.6 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................74 iii CHAPTER 4: CHARACTERIZATION OF CHANGES TO EPIBENTHIC AND DEMERSAL MEGAFAUNA COMMUNITIES AT MISSISSIPPI CANYON 252 RELIEF WELL 2 ONE YEAR AFTER THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL ...................................................76 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................76 4.2 Methods ......................................................................................................................77 4.3 Results ........................................................................................................................80 4.3.1 Densities ............................................................................................................81 4.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................84 4.5 Literature Cited .........................................................................................................98 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...............................................................100 5.1 Summary ................................................................................................................100 5.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................................101 APPENDIX: FIELD OF VIEW ESTIMATIONS FOR DD2 ..................................................103 VITA ........................................................................................................................................108 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 2.I. Locations, survey dates, and depths of each of the five stations that were surveyed by the ROVs in this study………………………………………………………….….....11 Table 2.2. Taxonomic classification and distribution of invertebrates observed in vicinity of MC252…………………………………………………………………………….…......24 Table 2.3. Taxonomic classification and distribution of fishes observed in vicinity of MC252...............................................................................................................................25 Table 2.4. Pre-spill abundance indices