Immense but not immutable: A sudden and sustained decline in deep-pelagic life in a large oceanic ecosystem
10 affiliations
- 1Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL 33004
- 2Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, North Miami, FL 33181
- 3Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- 4Department of Math and Sciences, Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL 33458
- 5Division of Marine Ecosystem Conservation, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946
- 6School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208
- 7National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, DC 20230
- 8University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301
- 9National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ocean Exploration Affiliate, Silver Spring, MD 20910
- 10School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Southampton, NY 11968
Abstract
The deep-pelagic habitat of the Gulf of Mexico comprises 90.4% of its volume and houses an exceptionally diverse deep-pelagic animal community that provides numerous ecosystem services, including carbon cycling and prey provisioning for oceanic predators. Here, we report sudden, severe, and persistent declines in the abundance of deep-pelagic fishes, crustaceans, and cephalopods that have persisted for over a decade. Over a 3.5-y period, animal abundances declined by 60 to 85%, taxon depending. Particularly hard-hit were ecologically foundational taxa such as euphausiids and lanternfishes. The magnitude of population-level decline that occurred during this 3.5-y period was greater than any observed over a 60-y period in the California Current system, the only comparable dataset, making this the fastest and most severe faunal decline reported for Earth’s largest ecosystem type. These declines were detected both via direct sampling and acoustic sensing, providing independent corroboration. Genomic analyses indicate reductions in genetic diversity among dominant taxa, both a corroboration and a consequence of the decline. Furthermore, resource managers report that these trends parallel those of managed or protected Gulf species that are dependent on deep-pelagic prey, including endangered species (e.g., beaked whales, Rice’s whale). No naturally occurring factors (e.g., temperature, oxygen, food supply) correlated with the observed declines, suggesting an anthropogenic proximate cause. That the declines began shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill points to that event as the most parsimonious explanation. These findings suggest that despite its immense size the deep-pelagic biome is vulnerable to human-induced disturbance and possesses limited resilience to facilitate recovery.
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BibTeX
@article{sutton2026immense,
title = {{Immense but not immutable: A sudden and sustained decline in deep-pelagic life in a large oceanic ecosystem}},
author = {Tracey T. Sutton and Rosanna J. Milligan and April B. Cook and Kevin M. Boswell and Heather Bracken-Grissom and Tamara Frank and Heather Judkins and Jon A. Moore and Isabel C. Romero and Michael Vecchione and Marta D’Elia and Matthew W. Johnston and Pedro A. Peres and Nina M. Pruzinsky and John A. Quinlan and Joseph D. Warren and Daniel R. Hahn},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2616554123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2616554123},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Immense but not immutable: A sudden and sustained decline in deep-pelagic life in a large oceanic ecosystem
AU - Tracey T. Sutton
AU - Rosanna J. Milligan
AU - April B. Cook
AU - Kevin M. Boswell
AU - Heather Bracken-Grissom
AU - Tamara Frank
AU - Heather Judkins
AU - Jon A. Moore
AU - Isabel C. Romero
AU - Michael Vecchione
AU - Marta D’Elia
AU - Matthew W. Johnston
AU - Pedro A. Peres
AU - Nina M. Pruzinsky
AU - John A. Quinlan
AU - Joseph D. Warren
AU - Daniel R. Hahn
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2616554123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2616554123
AB - The deep-pelagic habitat of the Gulf of Mexico comprises 90.4% of its volume and houses an exceptionally diverse deep-pelagic animal community that provides numerous ecosystem services, including carbon cycling and prey provisioning for oceanic predators. Here, we report sudden, severe, and persistent declines in the abundance of deep-pelagic fishes, crustaceans, and cephalopods that have persisted for over a decade. Over a 3.5-y period, animal abundances declined by 60 to 85%, taxon depending. Particularly hard-hit were ecologically foundational taxa such as euphausiids and lanternfishes. The magnitude of population-level decline that occurred during this 3.5-y period was greater than any observed over a 60-y period in the California Current system, the only comparable dataset, making this the fastest and most severe faunal decline reported for Earth’s largest ecosystem type. These declines were detected both via direct sampling and acoustic sensing, providing independent corroboration. Genomic analyses indicate reductions in genetic diversity among dominant taxa, both a corroboration and a consequence of the decline. Furthermore, resource managers report that these trends parallel those of managed or protected Gulf species that are dependent on deep-pelagic prey, including endangered species (e.g., beaked whales, Rice’s whale). No naturally occurring factors (e.g., temperature, oxygen, food supply) correlated with the observed declines, suggesting an anthropogenic proximate cause. That the declines began shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill points to that event as the most parsimonious explanation. These findings suggest that despite its immense size the deep-pelagic biome is vulnerable to human-induced disturbance and possesses limited resilience to facilitate recovery.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -