The need for comprehensive benthic baselines and monitoring programs prior to marine petroleum extraction: Lessons learned form the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Patrick T Schwing1, Bryan J O'Malley2, Gregg Brooks1, Rebecca Larson3, Isabel C Romero4, Melissa Rohal5, Paul Montagna6, Maria-Luisa Machain Casitllo7, Michael Reuscher8, Elva G Escobar-Briones7, David W Hastings3,9, Maickel Armenteros-Almanza10, Misael Diaz Asencio11, Jagos Radovic12, Adrian Martinez Suarez13 and David J Hollander4, (1)Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, United States, (2)University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, Saint Petersburg, United States, (3)Eckerd College, Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL, United States, (4)University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL, United States, (5)Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, United States, (6)Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Corpus Christi, TX, United States, (7)National Autonomous University of Mexico, Limnology and Oceanography, Ciudad DE Armería, Mexico, (8)Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, United States, (9)University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL, United States, (10)National Autonomous UNiversity of Mexico, Limnology and Oceanography, Ciudad de México, Mexico, (11)Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Cienfuegos, Cienfuegos, Cuba, (12)University of Calgary, Department of Geoscience, Calgary, AB, Canada, (13)Universidad de La Habana, Centro de Invesigaciones Marinas, Habana, Cuba