Ocean Experts Say Gulf Spill Should Have Been Anticipated

Robert Twilley, professor of oceanography and coastal science and head of the Coastal Emergency Response Group at Lousiana State University, told a June 8 Newsmaker that "there is going to be a huge discussion" about why the possibility of an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was not anticipated and planned for.

More research on the possibility of such a spill should have been done "so we would have been better prepared to handle it," Twilley said, noting that previous concerns "were justified."

Twilley was joined by Celine Cousteau, conservationist and granddaughter of undersea explorer Jaqcques Coustieau; and Thomas Shirley, a marine biodiversity specialist at the Texas A&M University Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.

The panelists agreed that there is still a possibility of mitigating the unprecedented spill, whose ultimate impact is unknown.

"We are not powerless, but we must act quickly," Cousteau said.

The primary concern of most efforts following the disaster has been "containing the shoreward movement of oil to prevent it from contaminating beaches, estuaries and marshes," Shirley said.

Although the efforts are appropriate, Shirley said spill management has "somewhat overlooked the thousands of species that live in the offshore habitat that contribute to the functioning of the marine ecosystem and provide many services that benefit coastal communities."