After our article last week that highlighted a recent CSULB marine biology department study that outlined the importance of marine ecosystems created by offshore oil drilling platforms, Professor Christopher Lowe sent us pictures from recent undersea dives that exhibit the diverse and vibrant life thriving among the man-made reefs.
Lowe provided us with the following images, which depict a sea lion weaving between barnacle-encrusted platform beams and CSULB graduate student Carlos Mireles with a kelp rockfish. Both pictures were taken at Platform Edith, which is off the coast of Hunington Beach. Others, like Platform Gilda in the Santa Barbara Channel, are nearer to Long Beach waters. All of the images prove the existence of an undersea ecosystem that thrives among the makeshift-reefs provided by the drilling platform beams.
Mireles, along with Dr. Lowe, conducted several experiments with fish species to determine their use of the platforms. Some are more plentiful here than anywhere else in the ocean.
“Some of the things that we’re seeing is that some individuals are utilizing these structures all the way to the bottom,” Mireles said in a press release. “One of our platforms is in 700 feet of water and one of the species, cabezon, is actually going all the way to the bottom, which is deeper than has been seen before. In addition, all four species studied use the horizontal supports of the platform like seafloor habitat. So, platforms are acting like high rise buildings for these fishes.”
