Summary

Description

A multidisciplinary team of marine scientists has completed a program entitled Stability and Change in Gulf of Mexico Chemosynthetic Communities. The program was carried out under contract with the Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS), with technical supervision of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Regional Office, New Orleans, Louisiana. The fundamental concern of the program was the effect that development of offshore energy reserves might have upon dense assemblages of deep-sea organisms, particularly chemosynthetic tubeworms, mussels, and clams, as well as fish and crustaceans, that live in association with them. Hydrocarbons from commercial oil and gas reserves escape into the sea bottom at natural seeps found commonly across the Gulf of Mexico's northern continental slope. Chemosynthetic animals utilize chemical energy from hydrocarbons to maintain colonies that have unusually high biomass compared with the sea bottom elsewhere. Chemosynthetic communities at hydrocarbon seeps were discovered in 1984 and have been previously investigated in studies funded by MMS. However, more knowledge was needed about the life history and ecology of chemosynthetic communities in the Gulf of Mexico. The program has produced a substantial body of findings, which include numerous peer-reviewed publications and student theses in addition to the results detailed in the final report. Given the pace of publication, it is likely that this productivity will continue for some time to come.