The R/V Weatherbird II is about to head back out into the Gulf of Mexico again for more research on possible effects of the gigantic BP oil gusher.
It will be the fourth such voyage for the ship, which is scheduled to leave port at 10 a.m. Saturday from the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. It had been scheduled to leave Friday, but the departure has been delayed by equipment issues, a spokeswoman said.
Ten scientists and six crew members will be on board for the seven-day mission, which will focus on marine life in the area where vast plumes of underwater oil were previously discovered by USF scientists.
Jose Torres, a biological oceanographer, will lead the expedition. Researchers will lower large nets into the Gulf waters near the DeSoto Canyon to collect small fish, shrimp and other types of marine life.
"Each day these creatures undertake a migration to near-surface waters to feed. During their journeys up and down, they will be passing right through any plumes that are present in the mid-depths," Torres said in a news release from the university.
"As important members of the 'business-end' of the food chain, these deeper living species form a critical link in the ocean's economy," Torres added. "We will be sampling to look for evidence of exposure to sub-surface oil and to compare present abundances with those obtained in years past, prior to the spill. Using both strategies we should be able to get a good measure of the spill's impact."
The trip is being funded by a grant of more than $147,000 from the National Science Foundation.
More than 172 million gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf for months after the April 20 explosion and collapse of a BP oil rig 40 miles off the Louisiana coastline.
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