This is the second in a week-long series of blogs in remembrance of the Cosco Busan oil spill that happened a decade ago on Nov. 7, 2007. In his blog, Jordan Stout goes back to the morning of the spill and the days and months that followed.

This is the first in a week-long series of blogs in remembrance of the Cosco Busan oil spill that happened 10 years ago on Nov. 7, 2007. In this blog, Patrise Henkel offers an overview of the spill, its impact on the San Francisco Bay and the outcome that followed.

Millions of people live, work, and play in the New York-New Jersey Harbor area which supports a multi-billion dollar port, a transportation hub, and an industrial complex. These activities and its dense population are a tremendous asset to our Nation’s economy but also put immense pressures on the natural resources we depend on for our livelihood.

When a disaster occurs, it’s critical that the organizations involved in the response can communicate and share information quickly and effectively.

That means groups as diverse and numerous as emergency management, fire service, law enforcement, emergency medical, and responders from local, state, tribal, and federal governments all need to be on the same page. At NOAA, we’re working with our partners to help ensure that the information responders need flows quickly and accurately—when they need it.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in significant environmental harm over a large area of the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent shorelines.

A special issue of Marine Ecology Progress Series published Aug. 3, 2017, features 9 scientific articles summarizing the impacts of the oil spill on northern Gulf of Mexico shorelines and nearshore areas.  The scientific studies, conducted by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration authors and partners, document four key findings based on five years of data collection and study.

Have you ever wanted to see an eel climb a ladder? Or explore a research vessel?  How about learning to fish or watch a scuba diver?  And did you ever think you could do all that in New York City?

Well, you can do all that and more with NOAA scientists and other experts at the Submerge NYC Marine Science Festival on Saturday, Sept. 16. This is the fourth year that Hudson River Park will host the event.

The free daylong science festival brings together researchers and scientists to talk to people about marine life and conservation. NOAA scientists from our Damage Assessment and Restoration Program and Marine Debris Program, as well as the Northeast Fisheries Science Center will be on hand to explain our work protecting the coastal environment from hazardous waste, oil, and marine debris and restoring habitat and biota.

In early March 2017, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter was returning to its home base when the aircrew spotted a silvery sheen in the water about 35 miles west of San Diego, California.

I imagine the conversation among the crew went something like this:

Hey, that looks like it might be oil…

On Aug. 18, 1990, President H.W. Bush signed the Oil Pollution Act.  The act gave NOAA and other agencies improved authorities for spill prevention, response, and restoration in the nation’s navigable waters and shorelines.

The act ensured those responsible for an oil spill must cleanup and restore the environment, and compensate the public for its lost uses—like beach and recreational fishery closures—from the time of the incident until those natural resources fully recover.