Gulf Coast

Bull sharks, the babies of which are not a threat to humans, have benefited from warmer waters.

Juvenile Bull Sharks Thrive in Bays as the Gulf of Mexico Warms

4 months ago By My Minion

Recent research reveals that their numbers in Alabama’s Mobile Bay have risen fivefold over the past two decades, and similar trends have been seen in Texas estuaries like Galveston Bay, according to a new study.

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(File photo) Hyperbaric chamber at Rigshospitalet, the Danish national hospital

Hyperbaric chambers in NW Florida unavailable to divers

3 years ago By Chief minion

In a region already woefully short of adequate hyperbaric emergency services for divers, chambers from Mississippi to Northwest Florida are reportedly now filling up with Covid-19 patients fighting for their lives.

As reported earlier on this site, the closest decompression chambers to the popular Oriskany dive site and Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail are in Mobile, Alabama which is out of state—or in Fort Myers, more than 600 miles away.

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Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Triples in Size

3 years ago By Matthew Meier

Photo credit: G.P. Schmahl/NOAA

National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

Moving forward, this expansion means increased protections for important species and habitats. The expansion areas will be home to future conservation work and support resource protection, recreation and stewardship for local communities and the country. In particular, the sanctuary’s expansion provides an excellent opportunity to:

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A peek inside a decompression chamber at a hospital (file photo)

Lack of deco chamber in Pensacola concern dive ops and tourism

6 years ago By Chief minion

Although Visit Pensacola promotes the Oriskany dive site and Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail, it has not been made aware of the safety concerns rover the region's lack of hyperbaric chambers to treat decompression sickness Nicole Stacey, spokeswoman for Visit Pensacola, told Pensacola News Journal on Thursday.

She said Visit Pensacola was not involved in any effort to try to improve emergency treatment options for divers and would rely on the diving industry and those professionals in the area to remedy the situation.

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While the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in sharks and other fish does not necessarily harm them the findings point to a growing problem for human health.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in sharks

14 years ago By Chief minion

A team of researchers led by Jason Blackburn of the University of Florida sampled and tested 134 fish living in coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Belize, and Massachusetts for signs of drug-resistant bacteria, using a suite of twelve common antibiotics. Resistance was found everywhere they looked, to varying degrees. Pronounced resistance to an array of drugs was found in sharks in Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys, for example.