By Andrew Quinn

Los Cabos, Mexico – February 20, 2012 - (Reuters) – Mexico and the United States signed an agreement on Monday to help U.S. firms and Mexican oil monopoly Pemex explore deep water oil resources in the Gulf of Mexico that straddle the countries’ maritime boundaries.

The deal, negotiated last year, will lift the moratorium on oil and gas exploration and production for 1.5 million acres in the Gulf and sets up legal guidelines for companies to jointly develop any trans-boundary reservoirs.

“These reservoirs could hold considerable reserves … but they don’t necessarily stop neatly at our maritime boundary. This could lead to disputes,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a ministerial meeting of Group of 20 nations in Los Cabos, Mexico. “The agreement we are signing today will help prevent such disputes.”

Both the U.S. Senate and its Mexican counterpart have to approve the agreement before it goes into effect.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the region an “area of high interest” to oil companies.

“I think there is a very good chance … the trans-boundary area will be developed in the short term,” he told reporters from a call in Washington.

Mexico – the world’s No. 7 oil producer – is far behind the United States in exploring for deep water oil reserves and has drilled less than 20 wells in its territorial waters in the Gulf. Pemex estimates there are more than 29 billion barrels of crude equivalent in the area, or 58 percent of the country’s prospective resources.

Carlos Morales, Pemex’s director of exploration and production, told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the company plans to drill six or seven new deep water wells this year and plans eight new wells annually over the next five years.

So far most of the discoveries in Mexico’s deep waters have been natural gas.

Mexico’s oil industry regulator worries Pemex does not have the capability or the safeguards in place to move into ultra-deep drilling.

One of the wells Pemex plans to drill this year will be at depths of nearly 10,000 feet, more than 3,000 feet deeper than it had gone before.

Safety concerns loom large after the explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010 that killed 11 workers and spewed more than 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.

The U.S.-Mexico agreement covers oil spill and safety rules, an U.S. Interior Department official said.

Mexico is hoping to attract help from private companies to explore for oil in the region with a 2008 oil reform that allows for incentive based operating contracts, but no projects have yet been announced

“This agreement also creates new opportunities for our businesses. American energy companies will be able – for the first time – to collaborate with Pemex, their Mexican counterpart,” said Clinton.

Mexico, which relies on oil revenues to fund a third of the federal budget, closely guards its oil resources nationalized since 1938.

“This agreement was negotiated invariably under the principle of respecting sovereign rights. Mexican oil wealth is and will continue to be of the Mexicans,” President Felipe Calderon said at the event.

Pemex – a major oil exporter to the United States – saw oil output decline dramatically at its largest, aging fields but has managed to stabilize production at around 2.55 million barrels per day

Last August, however, Pemex announced the discovery of a new light crude oil deposit in the Gulf of Mexico offshore from the southern Mexican state of Campeche.

The Kinbe-1 find has 150 million barrels of proven, probable and possible (3P) reserves, part of the Tsimin and Xux fields that hold a total of 2 billion barrels of crude, Pemex’s Morales said.

“We are talking about a giant oil field,” Morales said. “These areas will start producing in 2014.”

NEW York – February 21, 2012 - Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s chief executive will step down in May for personal reasons.

CEO Jim Hackett said Tuesday that he will resign “to consider other avenues for personal and professional growth.” Hackett, who has served as Anadarko’s CEO for eight years, will depart gradually, moving to a newly created position of executive chairman before retiring in 2013.

Hackett, 58, has been at the helm of Anadarko since 2003, a period of strong growth for the Texas oil and gas company. Anadarko shares have more than tripled in value during Hackett’s tenure, and it has increased oil and gas production in recent years.

Anadarko is one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies. It operates in the Rocky Mountain region, the southern U.S., the Appalachian Basin and the Gulf of Mexico. It has international operations in China, Indonesia New Zealand, Brazil and Africa.

Anadarko was a minority owner of the Gulf of Mexico well that created the worst offshore spill in U.S. history, in April 2010. The company paid majority owner BP PLC $4 billion last year to protect itself from potential lawsuits or other risks stemming from its 25 percent ownership in the failed Macondo well. That well was being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded and sank.

“It’s a great time in the company’s trajectory” to leave, Hackett told reporters in a conference call. “This is something that’s been planned for quite a while.”

Al Walker, 55, currently Anadarko’s president and chief operating officer, has been tapped to replace Hackett. Walker has spent six years with Anadarko, previously serving as senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. He also is a director of Centerpoint Energy Inc. and Western Gas Holdings LLC.

Walker said he won’t change the company’s long-term strategy when he takes over.

The leadership changes take effect on May 15.

Anadarko shares fell by $3.47, or 3.9 percent, to $84.58 in morning trading.

—Copyright 2012 Associated Press

The House Thursday approved Steve Scalise’s amendment dedicating 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 BP oil spill to a new Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund.

  GULF OF MEXICO NEWS

Friday, February 17, 2012 -The House gave voice vote approval Thursday to an amendment that would dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 BP oil spill to a new Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund. The vote was a key victory for supporters of using the fine money to finance environmental restoration in the five Gulf states, but only a first step. The amendment still needs Senate approval and enactment of separate legislation, called the RESTORE Act, to designate a formula for distributing the money, which could be in the billions of dollars. “This amendment is a crucial first step towards ensuring that 80 percent of the BP Clean Water Act fines will be dedicated to help Gulf States fully recover from the Deepwater Horizon disaster,” said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who wrote the amendment. The Scalise amendment says 80 percent of BP fine money under the Clean Water Act should go to “restore the natural resources, ecosystem fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, barrier islands, dunes, coastal wetlands” and address “associated economic harm suffered by the people and communities of the region.”The measure is being added to a controversial Republican bill calling for a major expansion of domestic energy exploration, a companion measure to a $260 billion transportation bill. Scalise said he could not offer the entire RESTORE Act as an amendment under House rules, though Sen. Mary Landrieu hopes to do just that to a pending highway bill under more expansive Senate legislative guidelines. The House energy legislation, which Scalise successfully amended, is by no means guaranteed enactment after passing the House in a mostly party-line vote. Many Senate Democrats and the Obama administration decry the measure’s advocacy for a major expansion of domestic oil and gas development as a threat to the environment. Republican supporters say it would help produce energy security for the United States. Scalise said whatever the eventual outcome for the House energy bill, it is important to show that House Republicans and Democrats support the principle that the bulk of BP fines should go to the Gulf states, not the federal treasury as would occur under current law. “Now that the House is on record supporting the dedication of these fines to the Gulf Coast states and to fully restoring the ecosystems and communities of the region, we will continue pressing forward with our colleagues in the Senate to pass the entire RESTORE Act into law,” Scalise said. Not everyone supported the Scalise proposal. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., who co-leads the House Gulf Coast caucus with the Scalise, said the amendment is too closely tied to the RESTORE Act, which she described as “flawed.” She said it fails to focus sufficiently on Gulf-wide research and recovery and doesn’t provide for the long-term monitoring of the Gulf, though Scalise disputes that criticism. Castor didn’t request a roll-call vote, allowing the Scalise amendment to pass the House by voice vote. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, said he would have preferred the House to vote on the RESTORE Act, but he described Thursday’s vote as an important step. It would be wrong, he said, for all the BP fines to provide a “windfall” for the U.S. treasury, instead of helping the Gulf Coast that suffered from the United States’ worst environmental disaster. Landrieu praised Scalise for steering the amendment through the House. “It took a lot of political muscle and perseverance, and it is an important step in our efforts to ensure that 80 percent of the BP penalties are returned to the Gulf Coast, which sustained the injury from the spill,” Landrieu said. “We are not going to stop until the RESTORE Act is passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law by the president.” Sen. David Vitter, R-La., congratulated Scalise “for choreographing this strong vote. It’s a very important step forward in advancing RESTORE, in modified form.”

Story Courtesy: Bruce Alpert, Times-Picayune

February 16, 2012 – (Reuters News Agency) – Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Thursday it had drilled a successful appraisal well near its Heidelberg discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, supporting its model for a reservoir it believes contains 200 million barrels of oil.

“We’ve been looking forward to drilling an appraisal to our Heidelberg discovery for some time, and we could not be more pleased with the results,” Bob Daniels, Anadarko’s senior vice president for worldwide exploration, said in a statement.

The well is 31,030 feet (9,458 meters) deep in about 5,000 feet of water, and follows the initial discovery well drilled in 2009. The new well encountered 250 net feet of oil pay — a measure of the reservoir’s thickness — and the discovery well hit 200 net feet.

Anadarko operates the block with a 44.25 percent interest, Apache Corp and Eni each have 12.5 percent, Statoil 12 percent, while Exxon Mobil Corp and and Cobalt International Energy each have 9.375 percent.

A map of the Heidelberg discovery and appraisal well will be available on the company’s Web site at under the Anadarko News tab at wwww.anadarko.com

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – February 2012 - Gulf of Mexico Foundation (GMF) Deputy Director Ryan Fikes recently participated in a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Coordination Team in Biloxi, MS. Joining him at the meeting were members of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, including Executive Director John Hankinson. The group  discussed opportunities to advance conservation efforts in the Gulf Region.

CRYSTAL BEACH, TX – February 9, 2012 – A 3-year-old boy died Thursday after a heavy driftwood log rolled down a sand dune and crushed him at a beach on the Texas Gulf Coast. A teenage girl was injured by the log, which Galveston County sheriff’s Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said was about 3 feet long and 2 feet in diameter and weighed several hundred pounds. The boy’s family was spending a day at the Crystal Beach seashore Thursday afternoon when the sand supporting the log was disturbed and gave way.The log killed LaShaun Lovejoy Huff. The teenage girl who was hurt was taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Read full artilce at KWTX.com

Project Summary
The Nature Conservancy, as part of the 100-1000: Restore Coastal Alabama Partnership, proposes to build 100 miles of oyster reef breakwaters/living shorelines, which will in turn help to protect and promote the growth of more than 1,000 acres of coastal marsh and seagrass. This project propose to add ½ oyster reef breakwater (~200 ft) to a project funded for 4 ½ breakwater reefs, so that 5 full breakwater reefs can be constructed. The project will provide substrate for oyster larvae to settle and colonize; serve as nursery habitat for commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish; dampen wave energy and decrease erosion; and, stabilize sediments, decreasing turbidity.

Project Name
Bon Secour Shoreline and Habitat Restoration

Project Location
Gulf Shores, Baldwin County, Alabama. The site is located on Bon Secour Bay, adjacent and tidally/hydrologically connected to waters adjacent to Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (AL GEMS site).

Latitude/Longitude of the project site
30°15’35.67″N 87°46’21.31″W

Land Ownership
Both – state-owned submerged lands; privately-owned shoreline

Anticipated NOAA Trust Resource(s) to benefit from restoration
Mammals West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) – Critically Imperiled/Endangered
Birds Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) – Critically Imperiled/Threatened
Reptiles Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) – Critically Imperiled/Threatened
Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) – Critically Imperiled/Threatened
Kemps’ Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) – Occasional/Endangered
Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) – Occasional/Endangered
Fish Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) – Critically Imperiled/End angered
Alabama Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus suttkusi) – Critically Imperiled/Endangered
Small-toothed Sawfish (Pristis pectinata) – Unknown/Endangered
Saltmarsh Topminnow (Fundulus jenkinsi) – Critically Imperiled/Species of Concern
Dwarf Seahorse (Hippocampus zosterae) – Imperiled/Unknown
Opossum pipefish (Microphis brachyurus lineatus) – Unknown/Species of Concern

Project Start Date: January 1, 2012
Project End Date: December 31, 2012

Contact Info
Judy Haner, Marine Program Director
The Nature Conservancy
56 St. Joseph Street, Suite 1600, Mobile, AL 36602
www.nature.org/gulf or www.nature.gov/alabama

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – February 7, 2012 - The Gulf of Mexico Foundation (GMF) took part in Driscoll Children’s Hospital‘s (DCH) Annual Fiesta De Los Ninos celebration at the American Bank Center on  February 3.

The Foundation donated a $75 annual Individual Membership along with a beautiful Texas Coral Reefs coffee table book by Jesse Cancelmo and two aluminum water bottles. The items were donated as part of a silent auction that raised thousands of dollars for DCH’s programs which benefit the children of South Texas. It’s just another way for GMF to show its support of our community.

Support GMF

LOUISIANA – January 31, 2012 - Jerome Zeringue has become the new management Chair of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, taking an active lead on behalf of Governor Bobby Jindal. Zerinque made Alliance history, shifting state leadership for only the second time since the Alliance was established in 2004. Louisiana takes over following a long and active tenure by Dr. Bill Walker and Ms. Trudy Fisher with the State of Mississippi.

The state leadership change became official at the Gulf Summit in Corpus Christi, Texas. Out-going co-chairs, Dr. Bill Walker and Ms. Trudy Fisher, were recognized for their dedicated service to the five state, Governor-endorsed Alliance and were presented with beautiful crystal awards. Through their leadership the Alliance completed its second regional action plan, established a regional non-profit, successfully negotiated with BP to form the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and oversaw federal and state appropriated funds to support the priority issues.

As the director for the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, Jerome Zeringue steps in as the new Chair of the Alliance Management Team. Their role is to act on behalf of the states’ governors to oversee Alliance direction to address the six regional issues identified as priorities by all five Gulf States.

Zeringue presided over his first meeting in January 2012 and said, “Thank-you to the State of Mississippi for their outstanding leadership of the Alliance. As the in-coming Chair from Louisiana, I look forward to working with everyone as we continue the good work of the Alliance. No matter the unfortunate circumstances that have led us to this point, we stand here today facing a great opportunity and an even greater challenge. We eagerly accept the challenge of restoring and enhancing the Gulf during this critical time. It is a responsibility we embrace.” Zeringue hopes to accomplish several items while Louisiana serves as the chair of the Alliance, namely the completion of objectives in the regional action plan as well as Alliance integration into the regional restoration strategy resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The five state regional organization will hold its annual conference, the “All Hands” meeting, this summer June 2012, in Corpus Christi, Texas. For more information can be found at gulfofmexicoalliance.org.

Press Release from lacoast.gov

Project Summary
Grant funding will allow the Conservation 20/20 program to hire a contractor who can kill invasive exotic plants from approximately 82 acres on Galt Preserve, a 265 acre preserve in Lee County, Florida. The most common invasive exotic plants on site are melaleuca (Melaleuca quinquenervia), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) and Australian pines (Casuarina equisetifolia) but other invasive exotic plants that will be treated are Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), carrotwood (Cupaniopsis anacardioides), and rosary pea (Abrus precatorius).  Treatments will vary from mechanical removal of mature Brazilian pepper, killing large melaleuca in place (herbicide), and treating small exotic invasive plants with herbicide.  Treatment types are shown on the attached map and are dependent on size and species of exotic plants.  Approximately 20 acres of spoil will be planted as tropical hardwood hammock, a globally imperiled community. The former melaleuca strand which was nearly 100% melaleuca prior to the initial treatment, will be planted with marsh plants. Mature exotic plants have recently been removed and treated in other adjacent portions of the preserve.  The southern part of the preserve contains mangroves, salt marsh and an exotic monoculture of melaleuca.  Restoration of the site will benefit the native communities and allow better ecosystem function.  Volunteers will assist planting the southern spoil area and with monitoring the project.

Project Name
Galt Preserve Restoration

Project Location
Pine Island Sound Gulf Ecological Management Site, Lee County, Florida

Latitude/Longitude of the project site
26º 30’ 35.3870”  -82 5’ 17.2412”

Land Ownership
Lee County, through the Conservation 20/20 Program

Anticipated NOAA Trust Resource(s) to benefit from restoration
Mangroves and salt marshes and the commercially and recreationally important fish which spawn in mangroves such as: snook, tarpon, sheepshead, redfish, black drum, mullet, crevalle jack, spotted seatrout, mangrove snapper, cobia, and blue crab.

Project Start Date: January 1, 2012
Project End Date:  December 31, 2012

Contact Info
Cathy Olson, Conservation 20/20 Senior Supervisor
3410 Palm Beach Blvd.
Fort Myers, FL 33916
www.conseervation2020.org

TEXAS COAST – January 26, 2012 -  Some good news for fans of Texas Gulf oysters, which have been off the menu this season due to the drought. Heavy rains in some parts of Texas have alleviated the red tide and oyster harvesting began once again in late January 2012 in San Antonio Bays northeast of Corpus Christi.

But hurry, because those bivalves may not be open to harvesting for long, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife department. A very small portion of Texas waters will open to shellfish harvesting tomorrow. On January 27, 2012 Espiritu Santo and the conditionally approved area of San Antonio Bay opened to commercial oyster harvest. Due to the recent rains in the Austin area the conditional area of San Antonio Bay might not remain open for long.

The Texas Department of State Health Services will continue to monitor the red tide and will open areas to harvesting when it is safe to do so. The return of gulf oysters in Texas is welcome news to gourmands and fisherman alike. In December 2011, USA Today reported that “a monstrous bloom of toxic algae looming across the Texas coast had shut down oyster season.” Because of the drought, “the algae could cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in humans and is harmful to fish but not fatal to people.”

“Typically the oyster season opens in September,” says Carol Huntsberger, who owns Quality Seafood Market in Central Austin.“In the last couple years, due to the drought and red tide, you know, it was pushed back. Last year I think it didn’t open until November. So this is the latest I’ve ever seen it open.” With some good rain, enough of that algae (the aforementioned red tide) has abated, and oysters are safe to eat again for the time being.

The department says you can call the Department of Health Services for updates on on the opening and closing of oyster harvest areas. The number? 1–800-685‑0361.

Read full article at StateImpact News Agency

Science Through the Lens of Scientists

WASHINGTON D.C. – January 30, 2012 – Today, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) unveiled the Coastal Ocean Science Blog, a new communications tool that will give you a detailed look into the science taking place across the US. The goal of the blog is to give readers a 360-perspective of research, from design and implementation, to results and how that science is being used by natural resource managers and partners around the US and its Territories such as those of the NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program. Look for postings about and interviews with Principal Investigators (PIs) working on Coral research! All of these discussions are with scientists, by scientists. Check out journals and publications related to our work with NCCOS scientists.

This is a forum for those interested in being part of the dialogue on the science happening between our program and NOAA’s Biogeography Branch at NCCOS’ Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment. If you are doing research in the Science for Coastal Ecosystem Assessments and Pollution, contact Becky Wynne at Rebecca.Wynne@noaa.gov or email the blog team for details on guest blogging.

We hope you will enjoy this new look at the way science is evolving at NOAA and how scientists from CRCP and NCCOS are evolving their methods and approaches to answer the ever-changing questions about our coral reef habitats and ecosystems.

Please share this blog with managers, decision makers or other scientists interested in the latest innovations happening at NOAA.

Coastal Ocean Science Blog

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – January 30, 2012 - The Gulf of Mexico Foundation presented a new, yellow Ocean Kayak to the winner of a promotion it held recently as part of a membership drive. The lucky winner of the random drawing was Ray Allen, Executive Director of the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP) in Corpus Christi, who is one of the many people who have signed up for the GMF’s new Individual Membership Program.

GMF President/CEO Dr. Quenton Dokken presented Allen with the kayak on January 30 at the site of a marsh restoration project on Nueces Bay.

 TV News Story (KIII-TV)

View Photos

Press Release (PDF)

SARASOTA, FLORIDA – January 10, 2012 – (SNN Local News 6) – The video by a fisherman who rescued a dog in the Gulf of Mexico has gone viral.

The Viszla fled from Saturday’s accident in which his owner, Sarasota resident Donna Chen, was killed when she was hit by a driver fleeing a DUI crash on Siesta Key.

At the time, Rory O’Connor didn’t know where the dog came from or why it was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, a half mile off Siesta Key.

When the dog swam up to his kayak, he says he knew the animal was in distress and posed no threat.

“He had a look of terror in his eyes,” Rory O’Connor said in a phone interview with SNN Local News 6 on Monday. “He was really scared.”

Barney is back with his family.

Watch the video Rory O’Connor made of the rescue

O’Connor, who is from Bellingham, Wash., was visiting his sister in Sarasota, according to the Associated Press. He regularly videotapes his fishing trips and captured the dog’s rescue on a camera mounted on the kayak. The video, subtitled by O’Connor, has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube.

“I have never fished a dog out of the water and probably never will again,” O’Connor said. “I was glad I was there. I was lucky I was there.”

After O’Connor took the dog, which had a microchip, to a veterinarian, the dog was reunited with the Chen family.

The dog was jogging with Chen along Midnight Pass Road when the fatal crash occurred Saturday afternoon. After the crash, the injured dog apparently ran away and jumped into the Gulf.

The dog’s owner, 53-year-old Donna Chen, died at the scene. The driver of the Nissan Altima that struck Chen, Blake Talman, 22, has been charged with DUI manslaughter and is being held in the Sarasota County.

“Barney is actually fine,” O’Connor said. The dog had no broken bones or internal injuries.

Watch video on Herald-Tribune News

NEW ORLEANS – Jan 25, 2012 - President Barack Obama will announce today a new oil and gas lease sale in the central Gulf of Mexico to be held in New Orleans on June 20. The lease sale, which will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area off of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, will make about 38 million acres available, and could result in the production of 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to Interior Department estimates.

The announcement will come as part of a day of events in Nevada and Colorado in which the president will put some flesh on the bones of the administration “Blueprint for An America Built to Last,” committed to an “all-of-the-above” approach to developing all available sources of American energy.

In his State of the Union, the president directed the Department of Interior to finalize a national offshore energy plan to make three quarters of potential offshore resources available for development by opening new areas for drilling in the Gulf and Alaska.

“Expanding offshore oil and gas production is a key component of our comprehensive energy strategy to grow America’s energy economy, and will help us continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create jobs here at home,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

“The President has made it clear that developing our domestic oil and gas resources is a significant part of this administration’s efforts to grow our economy and create jobs. This lease sale is part of our commitment to safe and responsible development of the Outer Continental Shelf.”

Read full article at The Times-Picayune

GULF OF MEXICO – January 13, 2012 – What’s a songbird doing in the belly of a tiger shark? The predators are eating land birds affected by offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico (map), according to new research.

Marcus Drymon, of Dauphin Island Sea Lab, has been studying fish off the Alabama coast since 2006. During a routine sampling in 2009, he pulled a tiger shark onto the deck of his boat to tag and release it.

“He coughed up some feathers,” Drymon said. That in itself wasn’t unusual, he said. Tiger sharks in other parts of the world are known to eat marine birds. But once Drymon analyzed the feathers in the lab, he was fairly sure they had come from a terrestrial bird.

So Drymon and his team launched a project to study the sharks’ diets. Over two years the team caught 50 tiger sharks—mostly within 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 kilometers) offshore—and dissected their stomachs. In about half of the sharks, Drymon found “feathers, or beaks, or bird feet, or some kind of bird part.”

All the parts were later found to originate from land birds such as woodpeckers, tanagers, and meadowlarks.

Full article at National Geographic News

By Mike D. Smith, Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI — January 16, 2012 — To be closer to the heart of its sponsorship market, the Gulf of Mexico Foundation will move its headquarters from Corpus Christi to Galveston next year, the foundation’s president said.

The nonprofit organization promotes and funds research, education, outreach and conservation programs to address challenges for businesses and communities which depend on the Gulf of Mexico’s health and productivity.

The group has funded more than 80 restoration projects across the five Gulf states and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and is working on $15 million in projects.

The move is a business decision, foundation President and CEO Quenton Dokken said.

“Our location is important to us only in terms of our sponsorship market,” Dokken said.

Galveston — which won out among relocation sites between Brownsville and New Orleans — also was the best location because of its proximity to Houston and its travel connections, he said.

In March 2013, the foundation hopes to build and move into the $7 million Gulf of Mexico Habitat Restoration Technology Training Center, which will be built atop 2 acres along Galveston Bay with 15 acres of wetlands next door.

The center will focus on responding to natural and man-made disasters, which affect the Gulf’s ecosystem and economy, according to a foundation news release.

Read entire article at Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Beginning in February, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary will be hosting a series of Seaside Chats in celebration of its 20th anniversary. These FREE presentations will introduce visitors to the history and wonders of the sanctuary, which lies just 115 miles off the Texas/Louisiana coast.

8 SEASIDE CHAT: Coral Reefs of Texas – Galveston
6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Galveston Fishing Pier, 9001 Seawall Boulevard
Join us for a chat about Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, its history, its unique location, and the wonders within. Help us kick off our 20th anniversary year! This is the first in a series of five FREE presentations.

15 SEASIDE CHAT: Romance on the Reef – Galveston
6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Galveston Fishing Pier, 9001 Seawall BoulevardDiscover the wonderful ways nature manages to reproduce in a coral reef environment. From corals, to sponges, and more–you’ll never think of romance the same way again. This is the second in a series of five FREE presentations.

22 SEASIDE CHAT: The New Krewe in Town – Galveston
6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Galveston Fishing Pier, 9001 Seawall Boulevard
Mardi Gras isn’t really over–it continues year-round on the reef. Meet some of the best dressers and masqueraders having a ball in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the third in a series of five FREE presentations.

For more information, contact Kelly.Drinnen@noaa.gov.

Sanctuary calendar