Collaboration

for Workable

Solutions

Cooperation 

in Research

Pooling Our

Resources

San Jacinto

Prospect

Cooperation 

in Education

Working

Together for a

Safer World

MMS

SCIENCE

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 4 

JULY/AUGUST 2004

THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

Collaboration

for Workable

Solutions

Cooperation 

in Research

Pooling Our

Resources

San Jacinto

Prospect

Cooperation 

in Education

Working

Together for a

Safer World
2 MMS OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

JULY/AUGUST 2004 Volume 1 Issue 4

3 Collaboration for 

Workable Solutions

4 Coastal Marine Institutes

Cooperation in Research

8 The Key to Knowledge

Pooling Our Resources

9 Latest Discoveries

Natural Gas Discovery in the Eastern

Gulf of Mexico – San Jacinto Prospect

10 Improving Understanding

Cooperation in Education

11 Working Together

For a Safer World

12 New Waves

Late-breaking News & Information

For more information about the Minerals Management Service, 

check out our site on the World Wide Web:

www.mms.gov

Subscribe

To receive MMS OCEAN SCIENCE, sign up on the website

www.gomr.mms.gov, click on e-mail subscriptions on the left hand

column, check the box marked Environmental Studies or e-mail

mary.boatman@mms.gov or call (504) 736-2781

MMS

SCIENCE

JULY/AUGUST 2004 

Volume 1 Issue 4

MMS OCEAN SCIENCE is published 

bi-monthly by the Minerals

Management Service to communicate

recent ocean science and technological

information and issues of interest related

to offshore mineral recovery, ocean

stewardship, and mineral revenues.

Please address all questions,

comments, suggestions, and changes

of address to:

Mary Boatman

MMS OCEAN SCIENCE Editor

Minerals Management Service

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard

New Orleans, LA 70123

mary.boatman@mms.gov

(504) 736-2781

ABOUT THE COVER

Top: Juvenile cowcod (Sebastas levis) and white anemones

(Metridium sp.) found on a pipeline between Platforms 

Gail and Grace. Photo Courtesy of Milton Love. 

Bottom: SCUBA diver conducting platform surveys 

around legs of Platform Gina. Photo by James Forte. 

Both photos are from the Pacific Region.

All photos courtesy of Minerals Management Service

unless otherwise noted.

Publication services provided by 

Schatz Publishing Group
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE JULY/AUGUST 2004 3

Left: Kelp bass (Paralabrax clathratus) under Platform

Gina in Santa Barbara Channel. Photo by James

Forte. Below left: A pirate flycatcher from Mexico

resting on a Gulf of Mexico platform. This is only

the fourth known occurrence of this species in the

U.S. Photo courtesy of Bob Russell. Below right:

Seastar and anemones between Platforms Gail and

Grace in Santa Barbara Channel. Photo by Milton

Love. Bottom: Platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

T he ocean covers 71% of the earth’s

surface. The influence that the

ocean has on all life makes it clear

that the management of our natural

resources must not be a singular effort,

but a united front.

Effective protection and management

involves local, national, and worldwide

partnerships that build upon the value of

the ocean’s complex ecosystems.

Developing workable solutions for

the complex problems that arise when

balancing the development of the

Nation’s marine mineral resources with

stewardship of the surrounding

ecosystems is a primary goal of the

Minerals Management Service (MMS).

To accomplish this enormous task, MMS

has formed partnerships, both here and

abroad. Industry experts, universities,

States, other agencies, and even other

countries have been enlisted to help

gather, organize, and synthesize

knowledge of the communities –

human, plant, animal, and mineral –

that depend on the ocean.

Collaborations with others make

better use of monetary resources by

spreading the costs and benefits of

research among several entities. In an era

of mandatory budgetary restraint,

cooperation between Federal agencies

allows each agency to accomplish more

with the resources available. Fostering

joint ventures between MMS and States

offers an opportunity to enhance the

knowledge and capabilities of both.

Working with other countries allows for

the sharing of information from past

experiences. This issue of MMS Ocean

Science focuses on some of the

collaborations between MMS and others

to enhance our understanding of the

Outer Continental Shelf and promote

the safe development of the offshore

mineral resources.

Whatever happens to one system,

community, or country has an effect,

either negative or positive, on other

systems, communities, or countries. This

is especially true in nature, where one

decision, or one mishap, can have

unforeseen results even years later. Only

COLLABORATION 

FOR WORKABLE SOLUTIONS Photo courtesy of C&C Technologies

FOR OR MORE MORE INFORMA INFORMATION:

Website: http://www.mms.gov/

offshore/Partnerships.htm

by pooling our resources, knowledge,

and ideas can we meet the challenge of

providing energy for the future while

protecting the natural resources for our

children and their children.
4 MMS OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Protecting the environment

requires sound scientific

information from experts

familiar with local regions.

Universities are a major source

of expertise to provide the needed

information for making management

decisions. The Minerals Management

Service (MMS) has teamed with three

State universities jointly to support

research that is of interest to both MMS

and the States. Coastal Marine Institutes

(CMI’s) were formed at the Louisiana

State University, the University of Alaska,

and the University of California at Santa

Barbara. Jointly funded studies have

covered a broad array of topics ranging

from bird migration patterns in the Gulf

of Mexico to the study of whale habitats

in the Arctic.

The key to effective management of

the Nation’s offshore resources and

ecosystems is an understanding of the

consequences of the interaction of its

complex environments, humans, and

technology. Each CMI facilitates student

research and training; acts as a hub for

the production of basic scientific

information; allows for investigations of

mutual interest to MMS and the States;

tests innovative methodologies to

address current problems; and promotes

further interdisciplinary research

involving MMS and academic

institutions. The formation of the CMI’s

allows MMS regional offices to tap into

the expertise of local universities and

provide important research that spans

many disciplines while serving the

interests of both the States and MMS.

Through these and other research

studies, scientists and decision makers

gain a better understanding of “marine,

coastal, or human environments 

affected or potentially affected by

offshore oil and gas or other mineral

exploration and extraction.” A better

understanding leads to better decisions

which, in turn, protect those ecosystems

that may be affected.

Above: Boccacio (Sebastes paucispinios), Platform

Hidalgo. Photo by Milton Love.

COASTAL MARINE INSTITUTES

COOPERATION

IN RESEARCH

FOR OR MORE MORE INFORMA INFORMATION:

Louisiana State University 

Coastal Marine Institute Website: http://www.cmi.lsu.edu/

University of Alaska 

Coastal Marine Institute Website: http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/cmi/

UC Santa Barbara 

Coastal Marine Institute Website: http://www.coastalresearchcenter.ucsb.edu/cmi/
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE JULY/AUGUST 2004 5

Louisiana State University CMI

The CMI at Louisiana State University was formed as a partnership between the University and MMS in

1992 to “collect and disseminate environmental information needed for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)

oil and gas and marine minerals decisions; address local and regional OCS related environmental and

resource issues of mutual interest; and strengthen the MMS-State of Louisiana partnership in addressing the need

for OCS oil and gas and marine minerals information.” A review of the first six years of this partnership is

available in MMS Publication 2001-062.

Funded studies have investigated the role of platforms as artificial reef habitats, both for fish populations and

as hard substrate, in locations where the surrounding surface is mostly soft mud. One study has shown that a

typical 8-leg platform structure serves as home for 12,000 to 14,000 fish. Other studies are targeting the question

of whether platforms are serving as productive habitat or simply attract fish.

The MMS has recently announced a new three-year MMS/CMI study investigating the occurrence and origins

of reef corals on offshore platforms. To discover if newly settled corals come from the Flower Garden Banks

(more than 300 miles away) or

from other platforms that are coral

habitats, diving scientists attach

settling plates to a platform

structure. The ceramic tiles will be

collected later for researchers to

look for tiny coral communities

whose DNA will be used to

determine the origin of the colony.

The OCS undersea

environments are not the only

ecosystems being studied. To gain

a greater insight into migratory

birds moving across the Gulf of

Mexico and their interactions with

offshore production platforms

along the way, MMS and CMI are

conducting a joint study of

migratory birds that winter in the

tropics (known as neotropical migrants). The birds are vital to the ecosystem, consuming insects, distributing

seeds, and serving as food for other predators. The flight pathway of many of these birds is over the roughly

4,000 oil and gas structures in the Gulf, which make up the largest artificial island system in the world. Through

cooperation with several oil companies, investigators were able to live on platforms during the migration and

observe the birds that came to rest. Some exciting discoveries include the use of the platforms by peregrine

falcons during the fall for resting and hunting. During poor weather, many of the migrant birds use the

platforms as safe havens to wait out the storm.

Left: A belted kingfisher from Mexico stops on a

platform for a mid-day nap before continuing to

the Texas Coast.

Above: Continental peregrine falcon populations

once approached extinction, but thousands of

this species now use platforms for resting and

feeding during their southward fall migration.

Photo by Dave Patton.

...a better understanding leads to better decisions...
6

The University of Alaska CMI

T he CMI at the University of Alaska, in cooperation with MMS, studies the rich environmental

ecosystems in the Alaska Region and the

potential effects of human activity. There are vast

energy resources to be explored in the oceans off the

coast of Alaska. But the ocean, the indigenous peoples

who inhabit the coast, and the wildlife needed to

survive are part of a delicate ecosystem that may be

affected by that exploration. 

The migratory and feeding patterns of the Beluga

whale in the Eastern Chukchi Sea are being studied

through the use of satellite tracking. Small

instruments, or tags, attached to the back of each whale transmit the whale’s location by sending a signal to a

satellite. The tags provide much-needed information about their movements, dive habits, feeding grounds, and

population concentration, which can be used to determine how we might best protect these valuable animals

from the effects of man’s intrusion.

Another migratory animal of interest is the king eider, an Arctic duck, that moves east along the Beaufort Sea

during the spring to nesting areas in Russia, Alaska, and Canada. The eiders return to the Chukchi and Bering

Seas in the fall. Satellite transmitters are implanted into the eiders to trace their migration. During the

migration, the king eiders form large flocks that could be more vulnerable to human activities. Through our

understanding of these patterns, methods to best protect the eiders can be developed. 

The Alaska Sea Ice Atlas updates the 1983 Marine Ice Atlas and brings it to the World Wide Web environment

(http://holmes-iv.engr.uaa.alaska.edu/). The atlas presents material of interest to a wide audience, from the ice

conditions that are important for marine transportation in the Beaufort Sea to a section with Alaska native

language ice terms and pictures of the many types of ice important to the residents in their daily lives and

subsistence hunting activities.

Beluga whales swimming in the open ocean.

King eider being released after having a satellite tag implanted. Photo by

Abby Powell, University of Alaska, CMI.

This satellite image shows a portion of the Beaufort OCS region. The white

offshore patterns are sea ice, showing the complex interaction of ocean currents,

winds, and sedimentation. Just east of Hershel Island, the large McKenzie River

empties an extensive freshwater, sediment-laden plume as do other rivers along

the coast. From a study report by Mark Weingartner, University of Alaska.

MMS OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE JULY/AUGUST 2004 7

The formation of the CMI’s allows MMS regional offices to tap into the

expertise of local universities and provide important research...

The Coastal Research Center of the Marine

Science Institute at the University of

California at Santa Barbara

The Coastal Research Center of the Marine

Science Institute at the University of California

at Santa Barbara is the CMI that focuses on

issues within the Pacific Region. Since 1995, MMS

through the CMI, the Biological Resources Division of

the U.S. Geological Survey and, most recently, the

California Artificial Reef Enhancement Program, have

funded research on the fishes that live around the

platforms and on natural rock outcrops of central and

southern California. The beams and vertical pilings

form the jacket of the platform, which provides

important habitat for a wide variety of fish. When

production from the platforms ends, the platform is

required to be removed within one year. The key

question of interest is whether removal of these

platforms will affect fish populations. Findings from

this study show that the platforms provide a refuge for

adult fish because fishing is not allowed near the

platforms. They also appear to be nurseries for young

rockfishes.

At the 1998 National Ocean Conference (NOC) in

Monterey,

California,

participants

identified

biotechnology as a high-priority issue for the Nation’s future. Recognizing

the potentially harmful impacts that bioprospecting or bioharvesting could

have on a region’s biodiversity and ecology, MMS is investigating the use of

OCS oil and gas platforms as renewable sources of material. This type of

research would reduce the need to collect from natural habitats, thus

preserving biodiversity and populations of marine organisms. The MMS and

this CMI began to investigate the potential of oil and gas platforms as a

source of marine bioproducts in 2000. To date, organisms such as algae,

bryozoans, mollusks, and

bacteria have been identified as

potentially suitable for

pharmaceutical applications.

“The Ecological Role of Oil and Gas Production

Platforms and Natural Outcrops on Fishes in Southern

and Central California: A Synthesis of Information”

found at http://id-www.ucsb.edu/lovelab/Report.html

Above: Juvenile vermilion rockfish (Sebastes minatus), club anemones

(Corynactis californica), white anemones (Metradium sp.), and seastars 

(Pisaster sp.). Bottom of Platform Grace. Photo by Donna Schroeder.
8

Coastal States face many challenges

in the management, research, and

protection of the ocean and

coastline. The protection of marine life,

natural habitats, and wildlife requires

knowledgeable experts who understand

the value of preserving the Nation’s

coastlines. These experts are found in all

walks of life and share the common goal

of safeguarding the delicate balance

between water and land.

Sand and gravel resources located in

Federal waters have been identified as a

solution to States’ eroding beaches and

coastlines. Currently, 14 coastal States

partner with the Minerals Management

Service (MMS) to identify sand deposits

in Federal waters. The sand may be

suitable for beach replenishment and

nourishment, or wetlands and storm

protection efforts. The partnerships result

in jointly collected geological and

environmental research on the complex

relationships between ocean, land, and

wetlands ecosystems. With help from

States, MMS is able to keep the concept

of a larger ecosystem at the forefront.

Currently, the Virginia Institute of

Marine Science (VIMS) and MMS are

monitoring the physical and biological

MMS OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

THE KEY TO KNOWLEDGE

POOLING OUR RESOURCES

Natural Resources

and MMS will

provide the

information

needed to protect

valuable shrimp

and other fish

resources on the

shoal, as well as

maintain the

physical nature of

the shoal and the inshore area, while

allowing material to be used for nearby

barrier island nourishment and wetland

protection projects. A related cooperative

effort between MMS and Louisiana State

University will provide additional

information on shrimp populations 

that reside on the shoal. 

Another exciting partnership between

MMS and State agencies is the Seafloor

Earthquake Monitoring System (SEMS)

project. Knowledge about the earth’s

movement underwater during

earthquakes is very limited, and data on

how seafloor sediments react to

changes at

Sandbridge Shoal

to study the effects

of offshore sand

dredging on the

local biology and

wave patterns.

Sandbridge Shoal,

located south of

Virginia Beach and

just offshore of

Sandbridge Beach,

has been the

primary source of

material for beach

nourishment and

storm protection

projects at

Sandbridge Beach

and at the U.S.

Navy’s Dam Neck

training center.

This cooperative

effort will 

help avoid

environmental

damage to the

marine ecosystem and physical character

of the area, while maintaining the shoal

as a source of sand for future planned

nourishment efforts. 

The State of Louisiana has a major

coastal landloss problem; more than 30

square miles of coastal land is being lost

per year, severely affecting the stormbuffering capacity and the protection

that nearshore barrier islands provide to

human populations, oil and gas

infrastructure, inland bays, estuaries, and

wetlands. Cooperative geological and

geophysical studies conducted by the

State and MMS identified Ship Shoal, a

submerged feature located offshore, the

central Louisiana coast, as an ideal

source of material for use in restoration

and nourishment projects along the

Louisiana coast within the Terrebonne

and Barataria Basins. Now, a three-year

cooperative environmental effort cofunded by the Louisiana Department of

Above: Map indicating

MMS-State Cooperative

Agreements and MMSState Sand Resource/

Environmental Study

Areas along US coasts.

Right: Photograph of

the beach at Cape

Hatteras and the

breached shoreline

following Hurricane

Isabel, September 2003.

Left: Installation of seismic probe 

near Platform Grace. 

FOR OR MORE MORE INFORMA INFORMATION:

Sand and Gravel Program

Website: http://www.mms.gov/

sandandgravel/

Earthquake Monitoring

Website: http://www.consrv.ca.gov/cgs
earthquake-induced ground motion are

meager, at best. To gather data that may

be used to strengthen the structures of

offshore facilities in the event of a quake,

MMS has installed a SEMS network off

the coast of southern California.

Under a Cooperative Agreement with

the California Division of Mines and

Geology (CDMG), the CDMG actively

maintains and monitors the offshore

network in addition to the State’s landbased seismic probes located throughout

California. The SEMS network can record

earthquakes originating onshore and

provides complementary real time data

to information collected from the State’s

onshore seismic network. As a result,

MMS and the State of California are

working together to understand better

the level of ground shaking to be

expected as the result of movement on

any one of California’s onshore or

offshore faults. Access to the data is

available to researchers and other

government agencies.

In an era of mandatory budgetary

restraint, cooperation between State and

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE JULY/AUGUST 2004 9

...common goal of safeguarding the delicate balance between water and land.

Dominion Exploration & Production, Inc. recently discovered

natural gas at the San Jacinto prospect. The discovery is located

in DeSoto Canyon Block 618, about 100 miles from Louisiana

in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Dominion owns 53 percent of the

prospect and is the operator. Spinnaker Exploration Company 

(27% working interest) and Kerr-McGee Corp. (20% working interest)

are partners.

The San Jacinto prospect was drilled to a total measured depth of

15,829 feet using Transocean’s Deepwater Millenium drillship (pictured

at left, photo courtesy of Transocean) and encountered natural gas in

multiple reservoir sands. The discovery is Dominion’s second in the

Eastern Gulf of Mexico area, only 6 miles from the recently announced

Spiderman/Amazon discovery. Development alternatives for the

Spiderman/Amazon discovery are under evaluation and will now include San

Jacinto. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is the operator of Spiderman/Amazon.

Above: The SEMS project consists of three seismic probes embedded into the seafloor and wired 

to computers on nearby platforms. Below: A probe can record a magnitude 

4.0 earthquake within a 25-mile radius.

LATEST DISCOVERIES

NATURAL GAS DISCOVERY IN THE EASTERN

GULF OF MEXICO – SAN JACINTO PROSPECT

Federal agencies allows each to

accomplish more with the resources

available. Fostering joint ventures

between MMS and States offers

an opportunity to enhance

the knowledge and

capabilities of both.
According to a random survey of

1,500 adults conducted in 2001

by Roper and the National

Environmental Education and Training

Foundation, only 12 percent of

participants could pass a basic quiz on

energy knowledge. For questions such as

how most of our electricity is generated,

whether average gas mileage is rising or

falling, and what the fastest growing

sector of the economy is with regard 

to energy

consumption, a

mere one in

eight answered

correctly. Yet,

75% of those

surveyed rated

themselves as

knowing “a lot”

or “a fair

amount” about

energy. The Minerals Management

Service (MMS), America’s ocean energy

agency, has teamed up with the National

Energy Education Development Project

(NEED) to change these statistics.

NEED’s mission is to ensure that the

next generation has a better basic

understanding of energy and the many

issues that must be addressed to ensure

10 MMS OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING COOPERATION IN EDUCATION

their environment

is safe and

habitable for all.

NEED teaches

the complex

scientific concepts

of energy and

provides objective

information about

energy sources,

such as their use

and impact on the

environment, economy, and society.

NEED makes it simple and fun to learn

these concepts through hands-on

exercises available for all grade levels,

from kindergarten through high school.

The science of energy (heat, light,

motion, sound, nuclear, and electricity)

is brought to life for young students

through activities such as cooking in

solar ovens and making their own

compasses. Students drill for oil in

cupcakes, construct layered earths to

understand geothermal resources, build

windmills, and mine for coal in

chocolate chip cookies. Older students

learn how to calibrate thermometers,

how to calculate the heat of

vaporization, and why sidewalks 

have cracks.

“The MMS assists NEED in hosting

regional teacher workshops throughout

the country,” says John Romero of the

Pacific Region Public Affairs office, “and

in developing new educational materials

like OCEAN ENERGY

(http://www.mms.gov/mmskids/), which

explores America’s current and potential

ocean energy resources. The MMS shares

its scientific and technical expertise with

NEED to support the program’s goal of

providing teachers with science-based

educational materials that encourage a

basic understanding of energy sources,

consumption, conservation, and

stewardship.”

The NEED Teacher Advisory Board of

outstanding educators and Advisory

Board of energy experts review all

teaching materials for scientific accuracy,

objectivity, and effectiveness, as well as

educational soundness. Participants –

including students, educators, sponsors,

and partners – also evaluate the

materials and training programs, as well

as new activities, to ensure the materials

are meeting the test of a comprehensive

energy education.

As the challenges of providing energy

supplies while increasing efficiency and

energy conservation become increasingly

complicated, future leaders and decisionmakers need to be prepared to meet

those challenges. NEED and MMS are

helping train the next generation to meet

that challenge.

FOR OR MORE MORE INFORMA INFORMATION:

Teacher’s Aides from MMS

Website: http://www.mms.gov/

mmskids/

The NEED Project

Website: http://www.need.org/

...future leaders and decision-makers need to be prepared...

Left: Kids learn how

MMS biologists study

marine animals and

seabirds.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE JULY/AUGUST 2004 11

WORKING TOGETHER FOR A SAFER WORLD

T he offshore oil and gas industry is

an international industry with

major companies operating in

many countries. Each country has

organizations in place to assess and

ensure the use of sound technological

developments and to protect the oceanic

environment. Most countries have

recognized that it is impossible for one

country to be environmentally separate

from another. Australia, Bangladesh,

Canada, China, Georgia, India,

Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia,

Turkmenistan, and the United Kingdom

are some of the countries that have

joined with the Minerals Management

Service (MMS) to share information and

research safety operations and procedures that use the ocean’s resources.

The National Energy Board (NEB) of

Canada has a long-standing collaborative relationship with the MMS jointly to

fund several research initiatives relating

to safety and pollution prevention

aspects of offshore oil and gas operations in each country. These projects

have dealt with the integrity of marine

pipelines and the assessment of human

factors as to the safety of operations.

The MMS and NEB have been very

active in sponsoring the International

Committee on Regulatory Authority on

Research and Development (ICRARD),

which includes the representatives of the

U.S., Canada, the U.K., Norway, the

Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, New

Zealand, and Australia, to share

information and to cooperate on

research regarding the safety of offshore

(Left to Right) Norway’s

Director General, Petroleum

Safety Authority, Magne

Ognedal and United States

MMS Director Johnnie

Burton sign a memorandum of understanding at

the Agency’s headquarters in

Washington, D.C. The two

organizations will consult

regularly on offshore safety

issues to exchange information and share ideas,

skills, and technologies.

Pictured also are Tom

Readinger, MMS Associate

Director, Offshore Minerals

Management, and Bud

Danenberger, MMS Chief,

Engineering & Operations

Division. Photo by James

Bennett, MMS.

FOR OR MORE MORE INFORMA INFORMATION:

MMS International 

Activities Program 

Website: http://www.mms.gov/

international/

Research with Canada

Website: http://www.mms.gov/

tarinternation/canada.htm

Agreement with Norway

Website: http://www.mms.gov/

3039.htm

operations. The two countries have

jointly sponsored international

workshops to share the latest technology

and establish priorities for future

research. Safety issues currently being

jointly studied include pipeline integrity

maintenance activities, development and

evaluation of oil-spill chemical treating

agents, such as dispersants, and the

detection of spilled oil under ice using

ground-penetrating radar and

hydrocarbon gas “sniffer” technology.

In May 2004, MMS announced a

renewed partnership with the Petroleum

Safety Authority (PSA) of Norway to

exchange information, ideas, and

techniques related to offshore oil and gas

operations. The PSA was established in

2004 (replacing the former Norwegian

Petroleum

Directorate) and

charged with the

responsibility of

ensuring safe oil

and gas

exploration and

development.

International relationships such as

these are important to MMS, the primary

manager of our Nation’s offshore

resources. Management of ocean

resources cannot be conducted in

isolation. Decisions made by other

governments or foreign developers

concerning their own resources can have

a profound effect on the health of the

ecosystems off our own shores.

Cooperative relationships with other

countries create an important

mechanism that provides MMS with

another valuable tool for maintaining its

goals and obligations as the manager of

our Nation’s offshore resources.

Left: An MMS inspector

on a platform. The

MMS conducted over

24,000 inspections of

offshore facilities

during the year 2003.
MMS OCEAN SCIENCE

Minerals Management Service

Mail Stop 5431

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard

New Orleans, LA 70123

FIRST CLASS

POSTAGE 

PAID

PERMIT NO. 298

LOMBARD, IL

Securing Ocean Energy

and Economic Value

for America

NEW WAVES Late-breaking News & Information

Spar production platform in the 

Marco Polo field located 150 miles off

the Louisiana Coast in 4,300 feet of

water depth.

Photo Courtesy of Anadarko Petroleum.

MMS Summer ... We’re All Wet!

This is a busy summer for MMS field work! From the

Atlantic coast through the Gulf of Mexico, off southern

California, and to the Arctic, MMS will have ocean scientists

researching everything from the behavior of sperm whales to

the biological communities associated with offshore platforms! 

In the Gulf, seagoing research involves a fleet of research

vessels, remotely operated vehicles or ROV’s, divers, and even a

manned submersible! Work is continuing on our world

renowned Sperm Whales & Seismic Surveys study, or SWSS.

New efforts in the Gulf will include studies of the deep-sea

coral Lophelia. The MMS is funding two Johnson Sea Link

submersible expeditions to begin looking at numerous deep

coral reef sites in the Gulf of Mexico (1,500+ feet). Scientists

have only recently begun to study deep coral reefs in the Gulf.

Other new studies include an evaluation of how WW II

shipwrecks act as artificial reefs in the Gulf in areas as deep as

6,000 feet. The MMS divers will also participate in a

monitoring cruise to Flower Garden Banks National Marine

Sanctuary. These pristine coral reefs 118 miles off the Texas and

Louisiana coast are surrounded by active oil and gas operations

and have maintained an extraordinarily healthy live coral cover

since study began there more than 30 years ago. 

The Pacific OCS Region will be documenting fish

assemblages along the Point Arguello pipelines off Point

Conception, and diving on natural tar seeps to collect samples

for fingerprinting in the same area. The MINT team also plans

to test rocky intertidal protocols that would be used to

document shoreline species within the first 24 hours of an oil

spill response. 

In Alaska, MMS will initiate the continuation of the Arctic

Nearshore Impact Monitoring in Development Area

(ANIMIDA) in the vicinity of the Northstar development,

offshore Prudhoe Bay, and the Liberty Area. Acoustic Doppler

Current Profilers will be deployed along the U.S. Beaufort Sea

coast to characterize year round currents and especially currents

located below the ice.