Animal counts plunged in a surveyed Gulf twilight-zone area between 2011 and 2015

A Gulf study found fish counts fell 63.5%, crustaceans 62% and larger animals 59.7% between post-spill surveys in 2011 and 2015, Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press reports. Later sampling showed little sustained recovery. Lead author Tracey Sutton considers the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill the most likely cause, but his team could not prove an exact causal link.