Gulf of Mexico 1979, the "Ixtoc I" oil platform in the Bay of Campeche suffered a blowout leading to a catastrophic explosion, which resulted in a massive oil spill that continued for nine months before the well was finally capped. This was ranked as the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico until the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill in 2010. On April 20, 2010, the "Deepwater Horizon" oil platform, located in the Mississippi Canyon about off the Louisiana coast, suffered a catastrophic explosion; it sank a day-and-a-half later. It was in the process of being sealed with cement for temporary abandonment, to
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies for all Gulf of Mexico researchers and research institutes. It includes ever-increasing amounts of information on bays and lagoons, reefs and islands and events to help researchers, policy makers, and the general public work together to insure long-term sustainable use and conservation of the Gulf of Mexico. • The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) is implementing a research database to receive and process data collected from multiple sources and scientific disciplines in the Gulf of Mexico. GRIIDC will have web services to allow for direct access or machine-to-machine communication to its repository. • The HRI