Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Oil spills are one of the worst things that can happen to wildlife. For example the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred on March 24, 1989 was the worst oil spill to ever happen in North American waters. A tanker from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska ran into a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. 11 million gallons of oil spilled into the water. The area that the oil spilled into had a large amount of wildlife. In the region

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

This disaster of the BP oil spill has caused many deaths: 64 mammals, 2,919 birds, and 489 sea turtles according to National Wildlife Federation and these numbers are going to continue to rise year after year till all the oil is cleaned up. Also, the Gulf is home to endangered species. Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are currently listed as endangered, and could go to threatened in the next couple years. Another example is the Bluefin Tuna which is labeled as endangered and could send them to extinction due to the massive oil spill. This is one dire effect that is hurting our ecosystem, and this same instance happened in Alaska with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. A great example of how gruesome the oil has taken on wildlife, look at Fig. B where a there is an oil-soaked pelican. I believe the world should change its main source of oil to a different less destructing fuel.

In 2010, an oil spill, now called the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill occurred at the Gulf of Mexico. An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil was dumped into the ocean. The oil exposed to the marine life’s environment caused many of the marine life to become sick. Many of the birds would ingest oil while they tried to clean the oil off of their feathers and would cause them to have lung disorders. According to scientist, up to 800,000 thousand birds and 300,000 turtles died as a result. I am here to today to raise awareness on this issue and inspire others to help protect our oceans. I hope that one day, we can restore our oceans to the clean and pure ocean it once was.

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

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This oil spill was the largest spill in history in front of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. This oil spill released about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean. This spill not only wreck havoc on the marine life but also the economic players that depended on ocean such as fisherman, tourism, and offshore drilling located along the gulf coast. Along will the spill the oil rig which was named Deepwater Horizon also went up in flames. This proved that the issue went far beyond just an oil rig that blew a line. Since this oil spill had drastic impacts all along the coast, BP which was the most liable for this incident faced criminal charges based on what happened. BP which knew the risks of deep ocean drilling failed to take the necessary safety procedures to reduce the risks of such incident occurring, thus was the reasoning behind placing most of the fault on them and not the other companies. The lack of regulatory oversight led to the issues and cost-cutting procedures opened the rig up to possible malfunctions like the one that occurred. During the spill into the gulf, BP sealed the well with cement which seemed to stop a majority of the oil from escaping the well. BP also recognized that the well was “dead” which was proven wrong when scientists still could conclude was leaking minor amounts of oil into the ocean. This spill not only proved to be harmful to the environment but also

On April 28th, 2010 cleanup crews were rushing to clean up a huge oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico. This spill occurred because of an oil rig explosion that took place on April 20th. The oil spill was threatening miles of coast line in four different states, and not to mention marine wild life that live in those waters. This oil spill soon became the worst oil spill the United States had ever seen. There were 126 workers on board the oil rig when it exploded, most of the workers escaped, but eleven were missing but then confirmed dead. The cause of the explosion is being investigated. Since the explosion, experts estimated a total of 210,000 gallons of oil were spilling into the gulf. Experts are also worried about the sea life and how

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill seriously endangered a rich, productive marine microfauna and ecosystem. Since tens of millions of gallons of oil gushed into the ocean directly affecting rich marine fauna. Moreover the disaster occurred at peak spawning and nesting season for many species of fish, birds, turtles and marine

Wildlife is affected by oil spills in many ways and the severity of the impact is correlated with how much oil was released into the environment, the type of oil, the season and the weather, and tidal energy occurring in the environment of the spill, (NOAA, Effects of Oil Spills on Wildlife and Habitat: Alaska Region, 2004). The Exxon Valdez oil spill had a numerous amount of impacts on wildlife habitat and marine systems. The oil caused harm to wildlife through physical contact, ingestion, inhalation and absorption. The oil contaminated plankton such as algae, fish eggs and larvae of various invertebrates, (NOAA, Effects of Oil Spills on Wildlife and Habitat: Alaska Region, 2004). Contamination through these variables occurred to fish that rely on these organisms to survive, and larger animals in the food chain that rely on fish that eat these organisms such as bigger fish, birds and terrestrial mammals, and even humans became contaminated through ingestion of these animals, (NOAA, Effects of Oil Spills on Wildlife and Habitat: Alaska Region, 2004). Fish were impacted directly through the uptake of oil through the gills, which changed their heart rate, eroded their fins, and affected their eggs. As stated above, it only becomes worse due to other mammals consuming the already contaminated

The National Wildlife Federation posted an article referring to the April 2010 oil known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in which the author discusses the major impact that the spill had on the Gulf environment. This oil spill had detrimental effects on environment and the cleanup efforts caused an even more harsh impact on the numerous aquatic animals that are native to the Gulf. In the article, ‘The Deepwater Horizon’s Impact on Gulf Wildlife and Habitats’, the author tried to articulate the gravity of the damage caused by the spill and the long-term effect that the spill would have on the Gulf and its population of aquatic animals. The author of the article refers specifically to the whale, sea turtle, and dolphin population, as well

To explain the adverse effects of oil exposure to sea turtles, we first must know how the sea turtles were exposed, how many were exposed, and to what extent. The DWH spill impacted all five of these sea turtle species through three primary pathways; ingestion, absorption, and inhalation. Ingestion is where turtles swallow oil particles directly or consume prey that have been exposed to oil. Sea turtles could have also ingested some of the chemical dispersants that were added to the GOM. Ingestion of oil may result in bleeding, gastrointestinal inflammation, diarrhea, ulcers, etc. Absorption is when sea turtles come into direct contact with the oil. This absorption through the skin can impede locomotion and diving ability; decreased ability

The incident of offshore oil rig explosion in marine environment at Macondo well at Gulf of Mexico leading by British Petroleum(BP), becoming the largest accidental marine oil spill in oil explosion history.Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton are the world's largest offshore drilling contractors and working with the British Petroleum at Macondo well.“The Deepwater Horizon (DWH), an oil rig working for BP on the Macondo exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico, experienced a gas leak while closing out the well and subsequently exploded on the evening of April 20, 2010, killing eleven men and injuring many others” (Petroli, 2014). The New York Times reported that the loss of life and entire oil rig at the Macondo site in 2010 were the result of poor risk management, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, last-minute changes to plans, inadequate well control response and insufficient emergency bridge response training by operating companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the operation of the Deepwater Horizon. According to the BP this accident involved a well integrity failure, which lead to loss of hydrostatic control of the well. it was followed by a failure to control the flow from the well with the blowout preventer (BOP) equipment, which allowed the release and subsequent ignition of hydrocarbons. Ultimately, the BOP emergency functions failed to seal the well after the initial

The BP Oil Spill An Introductory Background - One of the most controversial ecological disasters in recent history focused on multinational British Petroleum and their Gulf of Mexico Operations. The Deepwater Oil Disaster began on April 20, 2010 with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Oil platform, killing 11, injuring 17. It was not until July 15th, however, that the leak was stopped by capping the wellhead, after releasing almost 5 million barrels (206 million gallons) of crude oil, or 53,000 barrels per day into the Gulf of Mexico. It was not until September 19th that the relief well process was complete and the U.S. Government, EPA, and Coast Guard agencies declared the well breach effectively stopped (Cavnar, 2010).

There can be piles of information for environmental damages and wildlife hazards that can be related to the present oil spill scenario. Millions of barrels of oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico greatly hampers the environmental conservation and critically affects the natural ecosystem. The oil spill has killed many disperse amount of fishes available in the ocean which in turn has affected the livelihood of many fishermen and their families. With all the claims for personal livelihood, business losses around the gulf area, and the environmental cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico, BP took the responsibility for all the claims, which in turn would cost BP an estimated amount of $12.5 billion or more. (“BP oil spill 2010: How much will it cost?” 2010)

Over 8000 animals were reported dead 6 months after the spill, including many that were on the endangered species list (7). Subsequently, seafood prices increased affecting restaurants and supermarkets. People abstained from going to beaches covered in oil, water sports and other aquatic attractions which meant that all organisations involved in tourism such as hotels, tour operators, restaurants and boat rental companies were affected (1). Furthermore, the method of cleaning up the oil by “in-situ burning” (burning oil in a contained area on the surface of the water), had adverse effects on the environment as the burning off of the oil led to mutations and increased mortality due to pollution.