Scientists Use Oil Spill Research to Track Pollution in Biscayne Bay
(GoMRI)
September 22, 2016
It’s almost like a game of tug-of-war. There are growing numbers of residents, tourists, and industry at one end and the environment where people live, work, and play at the other. When the former increases, the latter is stressed. This scenario plays out all over the world, especially in coastal areas.
Biscayne Bay near Miami, Florida, is one of these areas. Its population, visitors, and businesses are booming, and its main harbor is expanding to accommodate large vessels in response to the widening of the Panama Canal. This growth has come with increased trash, wastewater runoff, and pollution that end up in the Bay, on beaches, and in mangrove forests. However, scientists are tugging on the same side of the rope as local citizens, pulling resources together to address this environmental concern.
Recently, members of the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens noticed that a lot of debris was accumulating at their waterfront, and they wanted to know why. Vizcaya contacted the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science who in turn contacted the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment II (CARTHE II) based at the University of Miami. Other local groups joined the conversation: The International SeaKeepers Society, Insetta Boatworks, Miami Waterkeeper, Miami Science Barge, Surfrider Foundation Miami Chapter, and Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves. Conversations turned into action which resulted in the Bay Drift Study.