Safeguarding coasts from pollution: A look back at 2025

When a pollution event occurs near our shores, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) works to protect our critical coastal ecosystems and resources. Each year, OR&R teams respond to numerous incidents. In 2025 alone, OR&R scientists and responders supported 167 maritime emergencies, ranging from oil spills and chemical releases to grounded vessels and large-scale marine debris events.

A principios de abril, el buque pesquero Eileen Rita In early April, the fishing vessel Eileen Rita ran aground off Hull, Massachusetts, and began leaking oil from a crack in the hull. At the time, the 86-foot vessel had approximately 4,000 gallons of diesel and 80 gallons of lubricant oil on board. While many maritime emergencies pose a significant risk to the environment, this incident was especially concerning as right whales del North Atlantic, an endangered species — were sighted within miles of the wreck.v

In the aftermath of the event, OR&R conducted spill of trajectory analyses and identified natural resources that could be affected. Since the rate and total amount of diesel released into the water were unknown, OR&R scientific and technical experts developed worst-case scenarios, which predicted the oil could make landfall around Boston Harbor Islands. Thankfully, rough seas helped to dissipate the diesel and greatly reduced any potential impacts. Once the seas calmed, the vessel was successfully removed from the harbor.

An overflight displays the leaking well and affected marsh habitat near Garden Island Bay, Louisiana on April 27, 2025. Credit: NOAA.
Photo: NOAA

Later that same month, following the discharge of oil and natural gas from a ruptured well in Garden Island Bay, Louisiana, OR&R teams quickly mobilized to help mitigate damage to the sensitive marshes and surrounding waters of the Pass-A-Loutre Wildlife Management Area. Staff provided critical on-site and remote scientific support that assisted response planning, containment, and recovery.

Teams conducted overflights of the spill, captured satellite and high-resolution aerial imagery, developed oil spill trajectory analyses and forecasts, identified potential ecological resources at risk, and integrated essential observations into maps that could be easily used by responders. Their coordinated efforts, scientific expertise, and use of cutting-edge tools were essential to the effectiveness and timeliness of cleanup and mitigation measures.

The car carrier Morning Midas on fire at sea on June 3, 2025. Credit: U.S. Coast Guard.
Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

In June, while transiting from China to Mexico, the Morning Midas, a 599-foot car carrier with over 900 electric and hybrid vehicles on board, experienced a catastrophic fire approximately 265 miles off the coast of Alaska. Despite dedicated efforts to salvage the vessel, the sank in international waters, taking hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel oil and roughly 10,000 gallons of gasoline with it. se hundieron en aguas internacionales, llevando cientos de miles de galones de fuelóleo y aproximadamente 10,000 galones de gasolina con él.

OR&R, along with NOAA Fisheries and the National Weather Service, immediately coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard to La Guardia Costera assist with emergency response and address the vessel’s considerable environmental and navigational risk as it drifted toward U.S. waters. OR&R staff performed drift forecasts to predict when the floating vessel would cross into national waters, as well as fuel fate analysis to direct response activities. Despite the significance of the event, these analyses, along with other key NOAA data, helped sustain Coast Guard and commercial shipping operations throughout the incident.

While the stories above represent just a handful of the emergencies OR&R responded to in 2025, they highlight the broad capabilities, range of expertise, and essential nature of OR&R’s duties. To learn more about pollution response work at the National Ocean Service in 2025, visit the OR&R website..