Blogging for a Healthy Gulf

In the last couple of months, Gulf Restoration Network has been sad to say goodbye to some members of our team, and happy to welcome new folks.

In August, Jordan Macha, GRN’s Gulf Policy Analyst ended her time with the GRN. Jordan was lead on all things post-BP restoration. Although we will miss her, we congratulate her on becoming Executive Director of Bayou City Waterkeeper and look forward to working with her in that capacity! With the recent devastation of Hurricane Harvey, her work as a Waterkeeper in the Houston area is more important than ever.

We were also saddened by the departure in June of Shona Clarkson, GRN’s Communications Director. However, we are excited to welcome Dustin Renaud as our new Communications Director. Dustin was born and raised in...

Before Congress went on recess, Rep. Graves and Sen. Cassidy, both of Louisiana, introduced identical bills in the House and the Senate nicknamed the RED SNAPPER Act of 2017 - a coy acronym for the bills’ significantly lengthier full name: Regionally Empowered Decision-making for Snapper, Noting the Angling Public and the Preservation of an Exceptional Resource Act (H.R. 3588).

The bills propose extending states’ power to regulate the recreational red snapper fishery out to 25 miles or 25 fathoms, whichever is greater, while leaving commercial and charter-for-hire regulations as they are, in the hands of the federal government past the 9 mile mark.

One reason the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fish Service (NMFS) were established was to eliminate the need for exactly what is being proposed by Rep. Graves and others. The...

Sea pens (order Pennatulacea), with around 300 species, can be found as deep as 20,000 feet in almost all oceans.  Generally found in large fields, this order is one of few to have species in the frigid waters surrounding Antarctica. Having varying appearances, sea pens can range in color from orange to yellow to white, with some capable of emitting a bright greenish light when stimulated.

These octocorals, related to sea whips and sea fans , have a unique form - their central stalk, known as the primary polyp, is a modified polyp that has lost its tentacles and developed a water-filled bulb at its base to anchor the animal (image, left). Secondary polyps branch from the primary polyp and have specialized functions including capturing food, reproducing, and ventilating the colony by controlling water flow. This trait...

Sea fans, sea whips and bamboo coral are all members of the order Alcyonacea, one of three orders of octocoral. There are many other types of coral in this order, but these three are common and interesting deep sea dwelling organisms. Keeping all these corals straight can be confusing because this same order was previously known as Gorgonacea, so corals in the order are commonly referred to as gorgonian corals. 
 
Alcyonacea most commonly occur as branching corals that look like plants, with a main trunk and branching stems (left (white), with an orange crinoid). Ranging from large fleshy masses to smaller feathered-pen-looking organisms, this family of corals is among the most diverse of deep sea corals and are united by having bony skeletons.
 
There are a number of sites in the Gulf that have uniquely...