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Deepwater Horizon

April 20, 2015

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 people and released about 75,000 gallons of oil per hour into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. Many WHOI researchers mobilized to study the ongoing impacts of this unprecedented oil spill. Above, Cameron McIntyre, Andy Billings, and James Kinsey prepare WHOI’s autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry to map a deep plume of hydrocarbons emanating from the damaged wellhead on the seafloor. Over the years, WHOI scientists have tracked dispersants used to clean up the spill, the fate of oil on the seafloor, and the impacts on deep-sea corals. (Photo by Rich Camilli, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)