A team of scientists from California has discovered that natural gas and oil platforms off the coast of the state offer one of the most productive fish habitats in the world.

Natural gas and oil platforms don't exactly have a good standing in society, due to the leaks such as 2010's big one in the Gulf of Mexico that had the public and earth scientists alike concerned about the damage to the environment. But the data the research team has obtained suggests that the offshore platforms can actually enhance the ecosystem.

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The study by the researchers consisted of observing 16 platforms and seven natural reefs off the coast of California over the course of five years, sometimes extending the duration to 15 years, and performing visual surveys of the fish. Anecdotal evidence pointed out that the fish generally congregated around the platforms. The scientists wanted to find out if they were using the platforms as a place to live, or if they were just passing by.

The team counted the number of fish they saw, and jotted down their location, to determine if they were actually living in the platform, and their sizes. The data let the researchers convert the area of the ocean floor to a number that demonstrated the productivity of the region. They were able to find that the productivity around and on the platforms ranged from 105 to 887 grams of fish per square meter of seabed annually.

The figure, the team found, was typically 27 times larger than the numbers of fish seen in the natural reefs that were monitored. Compared with other studies around the world with a similar nature, it showed that the productivity of the platforms was higher than any known structure created by nature.

The findings were not a surprise to the researchers because unlike coral reefs, the platforms cover a whole region from surface to seabed, providing more surface area for the animals to live in.

TagsOil platform, Fish habitat, Habitat, california, Natural gas platform, Coral reef, marine life, Wild life