The recent Beaches Chamber Joint Luncheon featured guest speaker Dr. A. Quinton White, Jr. – Executive Director of the Marine Science Research Institute at Jacksonville University. Dr. White gave the group an update on the Oil Spills and Fish Kills in the Gulf of Mexico.

A few interesting notes from his program:

• There are almost 5,000 oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico
• The latest estimate is that the current oil spill released 4.9 million barrels of oil. The U.S. uses about 20 million barrels of oil per day.
• More than 2 million gallons of dispersant were used. Dispersant has never been used in this quantity before and we don’t know what the side-effects may be.

Dr. White also addressed the recent stories about the St. Johns River and the “foam” issues. According to Dr. White, this is the consequence of a lot of algae and fish dying in the river. This happens in part because we overwater and use too much fertilizer in our yards.

While this was all sobering information, we thank the Chamber for continuing to provide educational and informative programs for its members – we always learn something new!