• Purple, yellow, gold and orange sponges and soft corals wave against a turquioise sea.

    Biscayne

    National Park Florida

Oil Spill Response

The South Florida national parks continue to carefully monitor response efforts to the oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Fears that the seasonal Loop Current could deliver pollutants to the area have not been realized, but the ongoing movement and spread of oil in the region has the potential to impact the South Florida coast for years to come.

Information and updates will be posted to this site as needed. 

 

BISCAYNE NATIONAL PARK UPDATE

Thus far, the park has suffered no impacts from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Nonetheless, the National Park Service continues to monitor water quality and potential impacts on park resources. Early in the incident, park staff conducted baseline condition assessments to document the pre-spill condition of natural and cultural resources in the park. This data will become important should currents ultimately deliver oil and/or other spill-related pollutants to the park.

Please contact the park's Public Information Officer for additional information or call 786-335-3640.

 
 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
 
Discovery Enterprise drillship
Unified Gulf Oil Spill Response
Provides information on the overall response to the oil spill.
 
NOAA Incident Map
NOAA Emergency Response
Provides mapping of affected areas and projections for the spread based upon current weather conditions.
 
NPS Oil Spill Response
NPS Oil Spill Response
National Park Service oil spill response page.

Did You Know?

Semaphore pricklypear cactus

In 2001, scientists taking a plant inventory in Biscayne National Park discovered a population of semaphore pricklypear cactus, one of the world's rarest plants. Previously known as only 9 plants in the lower Florida Keys, the new population numbered 570 plants...over 60 times the previous count.