Oil Spills
Up From the Seafloor Came a Bubbling Brew
Eleven days after the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010, representatives from BP called Andy Bowen at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
“It had become obvious […]
Four Men. Twelve Hours. One Crucial Sample.
The prize they coveted amounted to nothing more than about four gallons of natural gas…
A Plume of Chemicals from Deepwater Horizon
Along with the torrent of hot gas and oil spewing from the bottom of the…
Of Predators, Prey, and Petroleum
Protists are the Rodney Dangerfields of marine microbes. Although marine bacteria emerged as heroes in…
Life and Death in the Deep Sea
It was an experiment they hoped would never happen. But when it did, they were…
A Small Sip from a Big Gusher
How much oil gushed out of the Deepwater Horizon well and into the Gulf of…
Oil, Microbes, and the Risk of Dead Zones
In the scramble to get to the Gulf of Mexico to study the Deepwater Horizon…
Does Oil Affect Animals’ Cellular Machinery?
Ann Tarrant has a soft spot for a tiny, tentacled creature. So what if starlet…
Gliders Tracked Potential for Oil to Reach the East Coast
In the initial days of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a spotlight shone on a little-known…
After the Oil Spill, Finding a Drop in the Ocean
In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in April, marine chemist Elizabeth Kujawinski recognized…
Tracking a Trail of Oil Droplets
In the days after oil began gushing from the Deepwater Horizon well, scientists sought quick…
While Oil Gently Seeps from the Seafloor
I investigate what happens to oil spilled into the ocean—with an eye toward finding better…
Popular Way to Assess Oil Spills Can Be Misused
Environmental assessment teams increasingly may be using a method to assess oil spill contamination in…
Still Toxic After All These Years
This is a story about persistence—of oil, and of people. It began in 1969 when…
Oil in Our Coastal Back Yard
On September 16, 1969, the barge Florida ran aground off Cape Cod, rupturing its hull…
Mixing Oil and Water
In recent decades scientists have made substantial progress in understanding how oil enters the oceans,…