Effects of oil drilling on deepwater reefs offshore California

Abstract

From the Abstract: “Multiyear, multidisciplinary monitoring studies began in October 1986 off Point Conception and the adjacent Santa Maria Basin, California, to detect changes in deepwater benthic communities and determine if changes were associated with the discharge of drilling waste from offshore oil and gas activites. One year of seasonal studies on deepwater (105–213 m) reefs adjacent to Platform Hidalgo, conducted before drilling, suggested temporally stable benthic communities dominated by a turf of foraminifera and hydroids and large numbers of brittle stars, sea anemones, cup corals, polychaetes, and decapod crustaceans. Analysis of sediments and suspended particulate material adjacent to Platform Hidalgo indicated that reef animals were exposed to contaminants associated with drilling wastes. Continued monitoring of potentially affected invertebrate reef communities and studies of the growth and life history of selected invertebrate taxa were designed to measure the nature and extent of oil and gas drilling impact.”