concerns about the mortality of the Persian Gulf’s ecosystem. Research on the spill’s impacts on the environment began as soon as possible after the spill, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) already having preliminary results in April 1992, as reported by Ken Wells for The Wall Street Journal. Such research has continued through 2020. In 1993, The New York Times reported that a study sponsored by UNESCO, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States found the spill did "little long-term damage" to the environment, with about half the oil evaporating, getting recovered, and to washing ashore, mainly in Saudi Arabia. Linden and Husain similarly estimated in 2002 that about 30-40% of the oil was removed by evaporation. However, more recent scientific studies have tended to disagree with the 1993 assessment of the long-term ecological damage. US geochemist Dr. Jacqueline Michel asserted in 2010 that the oil spill had dramatic long-term effects on the environment, explaining that her research found that a large amount of the oil remained after 12 years due to its abnormally high ability to penetrate Gulf sediments. Linden and Husain found that in 2002, on average, oil penetrated about 10 cm, but in some circumstances, oil penetrated almost 50 cm, a depth that lengthens the natural degradation process significantly. In 2001, having studied Gulf sediments along with small crustaceans that live in the sediments known as ostracods, Mostafawi found that offshore sediments and the organisms in them were still affected by the 1991 spill. In 2017, Joydas et al. concluded that, while open water areas had low concentrations of hydrocarbons in the sediment, secluded bay areas had “alarming levels” that threatened the quality of life of organisms in such areas. Researchers have focused on the health of the unique habitats of the Persian Gulf, including coral reefs, salt marshes, mud flats, and mangrove forests (Booth). Linden and Husain in 2002, as well as Issa and Vempatti in 2018, found that coral reefs were relatively unaffected by the oil spill. Some researchers found that marshlands and mud tidal flats continued to contain large quantities of oil, over nine years later, and full recovery is likely to take decades. In 2001, German geographer Dr. Hans-Jörg Barth found that salt marshes still suffered significantly from the spill while rocky shores and mangroves showed a full recovery. He attributes the