Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Persuasive Speech

On April 20, 2010, one of BP’s drilling wells below the Gulf of Mexico exploded and caused a disastrous oil spill. Thousands of barrels of crude oil flowed into the gulf every day, causing widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico (Law Brain, n.d). The habitats of many bird species are threatened by this oil spill.

The oil spill created long term problems for the living organisms that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. The oil covered the feathers of birds, making them unable to float at the surface. The oil killed some of the deep sea coral as far as seven miles away from the site. Mammals ingested the oil, which resulted in some of the mammals having internal bleeding and ulcers. This has also lead to an increase in sea turtles stranding, sick dolphins, and a decrease in population of many marine animals. This disaster stuck during the breeding season for many species of wildlife. “The oil’s toxicity may have hit egg and larval organisms immediately”, which could have wiping out those age classes. Population dips and cascading food web has occurred due to

Offshore oil drilling is a controversial topic because when oil spills, it does extensive amounts of damage to the environment. Countries capable of mining oil in the ocean reap the economic benefits in addition to reducing their dependency on external oil. While it is uncontroversial that offshore drilling is a massive boon for those countries, the environmental consequences of a spill also affect the economic welfare of nearby residents. Oil contaminates animals through a process called biomagnification, where chemicals progressively become more detrimental to the animals the higher they are on the food chain. When oil spills into the ocean, it impairs the growth of native species and deteriorates the ecosystem. As a result, the livelihood of people in the tourist industry, fisherman, and shrimpers is crippled and may take decades to recover.

Until now, when the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded in 2010 and dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil into Louisiana salt marshes, scientists had no idea which kinds of animals were most affected and what impact it had on the food chain. However, with a new study from a Coastal Waters Consortium team of researchers led by Rutgers University postdoctoral researcher, Michael McCann, has found out what animals and insects affected by the Deepwater Horizon explosion that should be given the top priority for conservation, protection and research. The researchers found that terns, gulls and wading birds were both sensitive to the oil and so deeply connected to other animals in the food chain as predator and prey that losing them would impact

According to Oceana, the agency in charge of protecting the world’s oceans, the number one pollutant in the North Pacific Gyre is still plastic. Oceana remains unsure of the quantity of plastic in the water. Our “need” for plastic has harmed innocent little creatures and ourselves as well when we should be searching for safer alternatives instead.

Back in the spring of 2010, the Gulf of Mexico experienced the worst oil spill in U.S history as a result of an explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon Oil rig. On April 10th the hazardous accident had already killed 11 people, deformed and killed countless numbers of marine wildlife, and leaked 3.19 million barrels of oil that spread about 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Even though the well was located within the deep sea (the lowest part of the ocean that accounts for most of the water on Earth) the ecosystem suffered heavily from it. For instance, it has been reported that over 335 dolphins died, hundreds of sea turtles washed up on the shore soaked in oil, and hundreds of seabirds drowned or starved from not being able to fly,

Ocean pollution has been a difficult thing to measure and for the public to be concerned about. Most of the concern has only ever been on the shore level where people can physically see pollution collecting. There is a difficult to get people interested and a problem that happens hundreds of miles out where very few people will ever see the plastic collecting on the surface of the ocean. Funding for research to acquire accurate numbers on plastic pollution understand how it affects the environment of these marine organisms has probably been delayed because of the lack of interest people have trouble associating why the oceans are important for them. The truth currently there are no actual models to estimate the distribution of plastic the ocean, these models use data from surface

For instance, Rufe, who is a scientist, states that we have not developed an approach that can clean more than 3 to 5 percent of the spilled oil” (Mufson, 2012). Furthermore, In the Gulf of Mexico, although 205.8 million gallons of oil have been spilled, just 51.8 million gallons have been collected, which equals approximately 25 percent. Moreover, in order to clean the Gulf from the oil spills almost 2 million gallons of toxic dispersants were used. Unfortunately, the toxic dispersants did not truly purify the spilled oil, but fractured them into tinier particles. As a consequence, that may make the oil more harmful for some ocean animals and plants ( A Center for Biological Diversity Report, 2008). However, with the increasing of offshore oil drilling accidents, and with no solution to solve the problem efficiently. The hazardous impact is not going to affect only on animals and plants. It might affect people who depend on the polluted area for food, ecological enrichment, and entertainment ( A Center for Biological Diversity Report,

The BP oil spill made a huge impact on our marine life. If animals were not reported dead, they were reported very ill. The oil effected sea turtle’s eggs, which either failed to hatch or became extremely weak. Those hatchlings that did make it to the ocean faced the risk of running into an oil slick and becoming poisoned. Not only are hatchlings affected by the oil, but adult turtles were confronted with

Oil drilling affects thousands of marine animals in their ecosystems and has caused massive damage before. For example, on April 20, 2010, 210 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. It is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world and the largest environmental disaster in U.S History. (“Deepwater Horizon.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 July 2017. Web. 06 July 2017.) “As the Deepwater Horizon disaster shows, it’s hard to contain and remove oil that is spilling into the ocean.” (Hamalainen, Karina. "DRILLING FOR OIL." Science World Sep 27 2010: 8,12,TE8. ProQuest. Web. 30 June 2017.) This clearly states the known severity of oil spills. Oil in the ocean is hard to clean up, imagine how the animals that live in the affected areas struggle to survive. It stays in the water for

Dolphins were enveloped in the oil (Clean & Energy, 1). Four hundred and six dolphins lost their lives during the eighty-seven day plague (Clean & Energy, 1). The bird population of the Gulf decreased as well (Clean & Energy, 1). Some of the birds were cloaked with oil (Clean & Energy, 1). Thousands of dead and suffering birds were seen floating in the black pools of oil (Clean & Energy, 1). Six thousand one hundred and twenty four birds died as a result of the Gulf oil spill (Clean & Energy, 1). However birds and dolphins were not the only victims (Clean & Energy, 1). The British Petroleum oil spill destroyed a portion of the sea turtle population found in the Gulf of Mexico (Clean & Energy, 1). Over five hundred sea turtles, some of them babies were affected by the spill (Clean & Energy, 1). A grand total of six hundred and nine sea turtles died as a result of the spill (Clean & Energy, 1). These are only the documented deaths (Clean & Energy, 1). The true animal death toll is estimated to be fifty times the number of deceased carcasses that were found floating, or washed up on the shore (Clean & Energy, 1).

As I look out at the beautiful ocean, the silky sand and gorgeous seashells lay underneath my feet. The blue waves crashing down onto the shore. The ocean is truly a beautiful sight to see. However, we are slowly ruining this beautiful thing because of the way we treat this planet, the ocean is extremely polluted and marine life is paying for it. A few of the ways mankind is damaging marine life is by heavy oil pollution, and exposing marine life to dangerous chemicals.

On April 20th, 2010, an enormous explosion took place on the Deepwater Horizon Rig located fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana. This explosion triggered a chain of events that resulted in the death of eleven workers and more than 184 million gallons of crude oil being spilled into the ocean water (“100 Days,” n.d.). This oil contaminated the habitats of hundreds of species to a nearly unrecoverable extent. If any members of the native wildlife were not killed, they would be found completely coated in oil and in desperate need of care to save their lives. This incident is known as the BP oil spill, and its effects on the environment can still be seen in today’s oceans, for multiple regions are still not cleansed of the substance.

We 're treating the oceans like a trash bin: around 80 percent of marine litter originates on land, and most of that is plastic. Plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy. Seabirds, whales, sea turtles and other marine life are eating marine plastic pollution and dying from choking, intestinal blockage and starvation. Scientists are investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health.

The Earth is being poisoned. It is a well-known fact; however, a remedy has not yet been offered. Everyday, alarming amounts of toxins are released into the atmosphere, and more recently into the Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum (BP)--one of the largest suppliers of oil in the world--has dispersed an insurmountable amount of oil into the gulf. As a result of this, marine and bird life in the area has been severely affected. Fishermen, whose livelihoods depend on the fishing season, are being told they cannot fish. As the world demands action, BP’s top executive complains to the media about how he wants his “life back.” Certainly, those birds covered from head to toe in crude want their old life back as well. It has been well-known for a