Page 106 - AlertDiver_Winter2013

WATER PLANET
104 | WINTER 2013
Popular dive sites are among
the 359 oil platforms scheduled
to be removed from the Gulf
of Mexico in 2013.
Iclearly remember the first time I dived an offshore
platform. The structure towered above our dive boat like
an enormous factory, sitting atop huge, weather-beaten
legs that disappeared into the blue Gulf of Mexico. From
the surface, it wasn’t terribly attractive. But within the mazelike
structure underwater, I discovered a marine wonderland.
There were corals, sea fans, sponges, large schools of jacks and
snapper, four- and five-foot barracudas, sharks, tiny reef fish,
crustaceans and even sea turtles. The marine life ranged from
splash to 100 feet and beyond, where blue faded to deep purple.
It was a natural aquarium with no bottom in sight.
Islands of Life
The northern Gulf of Mexico contains the vast majority of
the nation’s platforms (almost 3,000), and there are another
23 off southern California. Although the terms are often
used interchangeably, a rig is a derrick that drills a well, and a
platform is the structure that’s built once a well is completed.
The number of platforms began to climb rapidly in the 1960s,
and they quickly became de facto artificial reefs. Government
scientists estimate that a typical four-legged platform is
equivalent to two to three acres of marine habitat.
“We’ve done quite a bit of research, and these structures
are even more important than we first imagined,” said Greg
Stuntz, Ph.D., chair of Ocean and Fisheries Health at Harte
Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M
University, Corpus Christi. “We see elevated abundance of
fish and high diversity. We’re confident at this point saying
platforms do increase productivity in the Gulf.”
According to marine biologist and filmmaker Soames
Summerhayes, estimates of fish populations around individual
platforms range from 12,000 to 30,000. “Extrapolate that
number using the number of existing rigs, and you could
hazard a guess of between 40 and 100 million additional fish
as a result of these platforms in the northern Gulf.”
Despite that potential value to the marine ecosystem, U.S.
Department of Interior (DOI) rules require companies to
remove nonproducing structures within one to five years,
depending on location and drilling lease status. More than
4,000 platforms have already been removed from the Gulf,
and the pace accelerated after a September 2010 notice from
the DOI reminding offshore operators of the rules. At least
359 platforms are scheduled for removal in 2013.
Legitimate reasons for removing nonproducing platforms
B y M e l i s s a G a s k i l l
Offshore PlatformsBattling to keep them in the Gulf
TOBY ARMSTRONG