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Gulf mysteries are easily solved by professors who know the ocean

O'Brien

By Sibley Fleming

The black water (a.k.a. the "black blob") that ap-peared in the Gulf of Mexico in March was reported as a baffling mystery. And there were others: the "Dead Zone" off the coast of Louisiana, fish population displacement in the Dry Tortugas, and red tides.

They can "easily be explained with a little knowledge," says James J. O'Brien, FSU professor of meteorology and oceanography.

Not-so-scientific reports of the "black blob" include a black underwater fountain, which is blamed for sea turtle deaths, skin infections in fishermen and more.

"This is fresh water coming out of both sides of Apalachico-la," O'Brien said of the black blob. "Since it's fresh water, it's floating on top. People aren't going to see (what it is) because they're looking at it from space, and it doesn't have any of the blue or green from phytoplankton or plants."

In other words, though it looks like a black blob from above, scientists who give it a close look will find that it's just fresh water.
"We have a very big group now doing very advanced computer modeling in the Gulf of Mexico," O'Brien said.

They use remote sensing from satellites, measurements from research vessels and data records.  

      The computer modeling system works much like the satellite image shown on the Weather Channel.

"Meteorologists have equations for the ocean," O'Brien said. "In the case of the Gulf of Mexico, it is driven by sun, temperature, winds, air, tides, rivers putting in fresh water. All these forces are acting on the ocean."

O'Brien hopes to help explain the cause of the "Dead Zone," a region the size of Rhode Island where nothing can grow, off the coast of Louisiana. 

"It's not poisonous like the red tide," he said. "It just doesn't have the right mix of nutrients for plants to grow. It is caused by chemicals from farms in the Midwest coming down the Mississippi River."

Another example of blobish mania?

In the fall of 1999, when tropical storm Harvey came across the peninsula of Florida, it created very strong currents from south to north. After it passed, a bountiful population of red grouper had disappeared from the Dry Tortugas at the southern tip of Florida.

"A few weeks later, they found them 100 miles away out on the shelf," O'Brien said. "They were still in the ocean, but they got moved." The explanation: Currents induced by changing atmosphere moved the fish.

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