Fish ear bones help USF scientists pinpoint oil spill casualties

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - When the green light is glowing in this University of South Florida lab in St. Petersburg, graduate student Mark Squitieri is at work.

"Oh, this is from a gag grouper,” said Squitieri pointing to a image on his computer screen. "Each one of the very smallest rings you can see here corresponds to a day of this fish's life."

Squitieri is researching fish samples from the Gulf oil spill one year ago.

"These are fish ear bones that have been cut into thin sections," said Dr. Ernst Peebles with the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.

Just like tree rings, the bone slivers are a permanent record of water chemistry the fish swam through including markers of oil. They are analyzed by a laser which takes a core sample.

"We've collected fish from all over the Gulf of Mexico, some of them from fairly near the Deepwater Horizon wellhead," explains Peebles.

He says their research has found oil in the fish which will help them identify the species most harmed by the spill.

"We're looking to see if the growth rates changed upon exposure to oil. Slow growth in fish is a good indication that the fish was not doing well and also that mortality rates are likely to be higher," said Peebles.

USF’s College of Marine Science has been a worldwide leader in the science unlocking secrets to Gulf restoration. One year later, these projects are still unfolding in St. Petersburg.

"At the time of the BP spill, there were no models that linked the coastal ocean with the estuaries," Dr. Robert Weisberg told ABC Action News.

Weisberg has improved ocean currents models to track future spills. BP pledged $500-million over ten years for independent research. USF received $10-million so far but was promised $50-million. In January, new deadlines for new project applications came and went leaving scientists in limbo.

"Most people have spent their money so for the next few months, to maybe the next spring or so, there's no money out there to do this work and it's a critical time period," said Bill Hogarth, Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography.

We sat down with BP representative Keith Rupp to ask him about the stalled funding.

"I know this is something new that's been created and there's probably some growing pains going on in there," said Rupp.

Rupp says BP will keep its promise but he couldn't give us a timeline.

Back in the USF lab, the green light is glowing -- a beacon of hope that science will one day lead to Gulf restoration.