Impact of spill on spawning habitats

This animation shows the impact of the DeepWater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on the spawning habitat of Atlantic bluefin tuna.

To simulate bluefin spawning habitats and larvae development, scientists used electronically tagged tuna and an ocean model based on in-situ ocean temperature profiles, sea-surface height data (from radar altimeters on Envisat and NASA’s Jason) and ocean colour data (from MERIS on Envisat and MODIS on NASA’s Terra), which signify the presence of plankton (food).

By overlaying the oil spill extent maps from Envisat’s Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar and the ‘spawning habitat index’, it was possible to see where and how often the oil spill and spawning habitats had overlapped between 20 April and 29 August 2010.