filter feeding organisms from the gulf of mexico

A series examining planktonic microfauna living near the site of the Macondo BP well blowout in 2010. Because they are filters they digest anything in their habitat, including petroleum and dispersant, and are then consumed by larger fish ( as well as humans) moving the toxic chemicals up the food chain, bioaccumulating it deeper into all the bodies and sediments throughout the water column. The series includes among others, Crab Zoa, Shrimp Larvae, Mussels, and Jellyfish. Much plankton is a life stage—it does not swim, but at this tender period of life is mobilized by drifting currents, until it either settles, like a mussel, or develops the means of locomotion, like a shrimp. Plankton and sediments of the area will harbor the evidence of oil and COREXIT dispersant the longest of any of the ocean’s systems, as they create microhabitat to store toxic molecules.

macondo blowout, 2013

Macondo Blowout, starring the filter feeders, was written, directed, and animated by Christy Rupp, and edited by Keiko Sono, at Flick Book Studio.

filter feeding organisms from the gulf of mexico, 2010

Welded Steel and Encaustic Wax, 2011, each about 18 X 12 X 6″

Barnacle

Barnacle

Pyrosoma

Pyrosoma

Sea Cucumber

Sea Cucumber

Chlorophyta

Chlorophyta

Coral

Coral

Jellyfish

Jellyfish

Shrimp

Shrimp

Man-made Oil Eating Cells

Man-Made Oil-Eating Cells

Brittle Star

Brittle Star

Actinopoda

Actinopoda

Sea Bottle

Sea Bottle

Dynoflagellate

Dynoflagellate

Crab

Crab

Sea Squirt

Sea Squirt

Filter Feeders group

Filter Feeders group

Filter Feeder Frames

Filter Feeder Frames

Copepod

Copepod

Trochophore

Trochophore

Pseudonomas Putida

Pseudonomas Putida

Eel Grass

Eel Grass

Sea Star

Sea Star

Blue Crab

Blue Crab

Guide to Filter Feeders

Guide to Filter Feeders, 1

Guide to Filter Feeders, 2

Guide to Filter Feeders, 2

©christy rupp 1962–2024 | site by lisa goodlin design