University of Delaware Animal Science alumna coordinates efforts to restore sea turtle populations in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig led to the largest marine oil spill in history. For 87 days, more than 3 million barrels of oil — or about 134 million gallons — flowed into the ocean. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the spill impacted the entire ecosystem of the northern Gulf of Mexico.
University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources alumna Wendy Marks was in Hawaii when the spill occurred. In 2010, she was a marine turtle stranding assistant for the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research at the University of Hawaii in affiliation with NOAA’s Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center.
“I remember my supervisor was deployed to the Gulf of Mexico to help with the sea turtle response work,” said Marks, a UD Class of 2002 alumna. “At the time, I don’t think I fully understood how big the spill was.”
University of Delaware alumna Wendy Marks assists a stranded green sea turtle in Hawaii.
Today, she has a better understanding than most. Marks works for the University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS). She directly supports NOAA’s Office of Protected Resources as the Deepwater Horizon Sea Turtle Early Restoration Project Coordinator.
Located in Florida, Marks coordinates sea turtle restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. By reducing bycatch, observing fisheries and responding to sea turtle strandings and entanglements, the Sea Turtle Early Restoration Project hopes to turn the tide in the turtles’ favor.
“It’s hard to imagine the number of turtles affected by this oil spill,” Marks said of the estimated 100,000 to 200,000 endangered sea turtles that were injured or killed.
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