Laura Geselbracht Highlights the Potential Effects of the Oil Spill on Florida's Marine Wildlife

Laura Geselbracht is a marine conservation planner with The Nature Conservancy in Florida. Geselbracht recently posted Gulf Oil Spill: A View from Florida on The Nature Conservancy’s Cool Green Science conservation blog. I like this blog posting because Geselbracht concisely summarizes the potential threat of the Gulf oil spill to local marine wildlife on the Florida coastline. Having relatives on the west and east coasts of Florida, I really want to know what the sunshine state may be facing in the weeks and months to come. Geselbracht worked in Washington state when the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred, so she saw first hand how oil spills can threaten various species. She mentions the Tenyo Maro oil spill, which occurred in 1991 off the coast of Washington near the Canadian border. Oil from the Tenyo Maro spill was taken up by ocean currents and ultimately affected a substantial amount of the Washington coast as well as some of the Oregon coast. Geselbracht provides some information on the Loop Current, which is a warm current in the Gulf of Mexico that loops around southern Florida on its way to merging with the Gulf Stream. Many fear that the oil slick could be picked up by these major currents, and therefore impact much of Florida’s coastline and coastal resources. Geselbracht highlights a number of vulnerable species, including the Florida manatee, American crocodile, smalltooth sawfish, the spoonbill, five species of sea turtles, and several terrapin species. The thought of losing any of these species due to the oil spill is unthinkable, and Geselbracht’s blog posting effectively makes that point.