Abstract

The Gulf of Mexico is a place where the environment and the economy both coexist and contend. It is a resilient large marine ecosystem that has changed in response to many drivers and pressures that we are only now beginning to fully understand. Coastlines of the states that border the Gulf comprise about half of the US southern seaboard, and those states are capped by the vast Midwest. The Gulf drains most of North America and is both an economic keystone and an unintended waste receptacle. It is a renowned resource for seafood markets, recreational fishing, and beach destinations and an international maritime highway fueled by vast, but limited, hydrocarbon reserves. Today, more is known about the Gulf than was imagined possible only a few years ago. That gain in knowledge was driven by one of the greatest environmental disasters of this country’s history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The multitude of response actions and subsequent funded research significantly contributed to expanding our knowledge and, perhaps most importantly, to guiding the work needed to restore the damage from that oil spill. Funding for further work should not wait for the next major disaster, which will be too late; progress must be maintained to ensure that the Gulf continues to be resilient.

Highlights

  • The Gulf of Mexico AN OVERVIEWSea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico on March 1, 2008

  • The environment and the economy of the Gulf of Mexico both coexist and contend with one another

  • We provide a brief overview of the Gulf and its complex nature, summarize some of what has been learned since the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster, and describe how that knowledge has illuminated important aspects of this complex marine ecosystem

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Summary

The Gulf of Mexico AN OVERVIEW

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico on March 1, 2008. The Loop Current can be recognized as the lighter region in the Gulf between the Yucatán Peninsula and Florida. Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. GoMRI, significantly contributed to expanding our knowledge and, perhaps most ” importantly, to guiding the work to restore the damage from that oil spill

INTRODUCTION
Fisheries and ecosystem survey data
Responses to Deepwater Horizon
Findings
ARTICLE CITATION

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