Hopkins to study oil spill impact on Florida ecosystem
Johns Hopkins University researchers are part of a team that will study how the BP oil spill will affect aquatic life off the coast of Florida.
The university said today that it is part of a group of many institutions that will join in the research led by the National Aquarium and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.
The Johns Hopkins University Center for Contaminant Transport, Fate and Remediation is also a major player in the research. The center will use mathematical models to show how contaminants in oil move through the food chain and accumulate in marine plant and animal tissues. The models could then potentially help study how humans could be affected by contaminated seafood.
Researchers have begun collecting samples of water, sediment, marine animals and plant life in the Sarasota Bay region. The region hasn't been impacted by the oil spill, but as it spreads could enter the Sarasota Bay ecosystem. Samples are being taken now so researchers will have something to compare when oil does move into the region.
