The Loop: Stories from the Gulf

Series produced by David Levin

Caption: Sunset over the Gulf, Credit: David Levin
Image by: David Levin 
Sunset over the Gulf 

The Loop is an audio series about the mud, microbes, and mammals in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

Since the spill, many researchers are focusing their attention on the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to find out how the region's ecosystem was affected by the disaster. They've been working to discover what happened to the oil chemically and physically, and learn about its impact on life in and around the Gulf. What those researchers discover could change the way we deal with future spills, and could help protect the Gulf and its inhabitants the next time disaster strikes.

In this series, follow along with us as we dive headlong into that research.


10 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Biochemist Dana Wetzel dissects a fish exposed to oil in the lab., Credit: David Levin
Scientists at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, are leading a new experiment that will help uncover the effects of oil spills on fis...

  • Added: Feb 15, 2017
  • Length: 08:20
Caption: Chuanmin Hu, an optical oceanographer at USF, points to a map of the Ixtoc-1 spill made from archival satellite data.
The 1979 Ixtoc-1 oil spill spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but has since been largely forgotten. More than 35 years late...

  • Added: Feb 15, 2017
  • Length: 09:50
Caption: PhD students Adriana Gaytán-Caballero and Travis Washburn collect tiny animals from a sediment sample taken at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
For the first time in 35 years, Mexican and American scientists are working together to study the Ixtoc 1 spill, a massive oil blowout that happene...

Bought by WABE


  • Added: Feb 01, 2016
  • Length: 09:03
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Through an alley in the old section of Ciudad del Carmen, dozens of ships serving the oil industry are visible just offshore.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened just a few years ago. But it might be possible to predict its impact on the Gulf years into the future by ...

  • Added: Feb 01, 2016
  • Length: 08:08
Caption: Inside these metal chambers, Rudi Müller and his team grow bacteria under extreme pressure., Credit: USF
Rudi Müller is a microbiologist in Hamburg, Germany. He says that after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred in 2010, a large amount of oil may...

  • Added: Aug 18, 2015
  • Length: 06:48
Caption: Researchers Steve Murawski, Karen Malone, and David Hollander stand next to a metal chamber used to test samples under extreme pressure., Credit: USF
For more than a thousand years, life in Hamburg, Germany has revolved around water. This riverside city is one of Europe’s biggest ports. But today...

  • Added: Aug 18, 2015
  • Length: 07:43
Caption: Modeling an entire ecosystem is so complex, it needs this supercomputing center at the University of South Florida to handle all of the data involved., Credit: Brian Smith
A team of researchers from the University of South Florida is building a virtual version of the entire Gulf ecosystem inside a computer. Why? Find ...

  • Added: Nov 05, 2013
  • Length: 06:45
Caption: The fate of tiny phytoplankton, like these pictured above, can have a major impact on the rest of the food chain., Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In this episode, we’re taking a look at the little guys: the tiny plants and animals at the bottom of the Gulf’s food chain. Even though they’re mi...

  • Added: Nov 05, 2013
  • Length: 07:12
Caption: Researcher Patrick Schwing prepares a multicore sampler aboard the R/V Weatherbird II., Credit: David Levin
Years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the fish in the Gulf of Mexico—in fact, the whole ecosystem out there—is still feeling its effects. Ho...

  • Added: Nov 05, 2013
  • Length: 09:15
Caption: Researchers prepare to take samples of the ocean floor using a multicore device.
Biologist Steve Murawski is leading a new team of researchers trying to figure out the long-term impact of the Deepwater Horizon spill—not just on ...

Bought by WTJU


  • Added: Nov 05, 2013
  • Length: 08:03
  • Purchases: 1