Evaluating Impacts of Deep Oil Spills on Oceanic Marine Mammals

Abstract

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill may be indicative of future large, deep spills that may occur in the coming decades. Given that future deepwa- ter spills are possible, critical considerations include (1) establishing baselines for oceanic marine mammal and populations in at-risk areas, (2) understanding the implications of response choices for oceanic marine mammals, (3) designing stud- ies with adequate coverage for post-spill monitoring, and (4) identifying effective strategies for oceanic marine mammal restoration. In this chapter, we consider these four stages in the context of a series of hypothetical oil spill scenarios, iden- tifying ways that lessons learned from the DWH oil spill and prior events can be applied to future disasters.