Mapping the response and recovery efforts in the gulf

Found this site just a little bit ago, from the same folks that created the Conservation Registry, a database of conservation projects where users can sign up and add new details and pin the location of the project on a customizable Google Map. The same concept is applied for the Gulf Oil Spill Response and Recovery site; users can add and date pins to the map for efforts/observations that are currently or have been made, and then overlay additional information such as spill forecasts, locations of nesting sites and oyster beds, NASA satellite images, the explosion itself and dozens of other contextual layers.
More from the blog:

Users can search the map for impacts and recovery projects by activity type, species and habitats. Impacts and recovery efforts can be viewed in relation to sea turtle nesting sites, manatee locations, high priority federal lands and other relevant map layers. To report an impact or observation, or contribute a new project, users create an account through a simple one-step signup which requires a name and email address.

The types of notices that can be mapped include:

Observations: Oil slicks or sheen, oiled plants and wildlife, wildlife mortality, oiled beaches. Recovery and mitigation projects: Oil contamination management, boom and barrier placement, beach clean-up, wildlife rescue. Request assistance or search for volunteer opportunities. Post project needs for volunteers, special equipment or funding. Reach out to projects that need help.

Here are a couple of examples that have already been pinned:

Power of the Mighty Mississippi used to beat back oil spill
Six diversions have been set up along the Mississippi river to divert the river water to act as a flushing system for the coast. While there are fears that the flow of freshwater will upset salinity levels along the coast, affecting fisheries and estuaries; however, these damages are considered far less than the alternative. Officials are considering adding the Bohemia Spillway, originally designed for flood control, to these efforts as well. 

Plume spotted, leaking toward Mobile
Marine scientists have discovered a massive new plume of what they believe to be oil deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico, stretching 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the leaking wellhead northeast toward Mobile Bay, Alabama. The discovery by researchers on the University of South Florida College of Marine Science's Weatherbird II vessel is the second significant undersea plume recorded since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. 

UD Fish and Wildlife Services
Two rehabilitated birds that were rescued from the oil spill area are set to be released into the wild this afternoon, far from the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will release the birds in the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area in Iberville Parish.
If the site becomes prevalent enough, it should prove to be an invaluable way to keep track of what is actually happening at ground zero in this effort.

Share