Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, mankind has increasingly become reliant on fossil fuels such as oil for energy. Oil fuels our car, warms our homes, generates our electricity, and creates a myriad of goods including everything that contains plastic. In our global economy, oil must be transported great distances to reach markets throughout the world. With seemingly increasing frequency, these journeys sometimes end in accidents that result in oil being spilled into the ocean. The most devastating oil spill, The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, occurred on April twentieth of this year. Deepwater Horizon is an oilrig located in the Gulf of Mexico and it is owned by B.P. Everything seemed to be running efficiently on the rig until …show more content…
Animals that live in the Gulf are beginning to show changes caused by the oil. One species in particular that is being affected by the oil is the brown pelican. They inhabit the area in which the oil is located and look to the ocean for their main source of food. The oil coating the ocean tricks the bird into thinking the water is calm and the bird will land in the water (Kaufman). Once the oil comes in contact with the pelican, it is no longer able to regulate its body temperature. Eventually, this causes hypothermia and the bird dies as a result. Birds are already beginning to wash up on shore of nearby coastlines at an abnormally large rate. In the last month, “…fifty dead brown pelicans were discovered dead on shore, much larger than the average fifteen dead birds in previous months” (Kaufman). If this trend continues at this pace, the eradication of a majority of the sea bird population in the Gulf is a serious possibility. Another species that is actually in danger of a major death rate is the shrimp and shellfish population. These types of animals are “…more vulnerable to oil and chemical dispersants because they are stationary” (Kaufman). The oil is toxic to these shellfish and will cause death in matter of a few hours (Kaufman). Shellfish are a main source of food for many different types of aquatic animals in the Gulf like various fish and bird species. As a result of the oil spill, competition for food has
One of the most noticeable, and troubling, effects is on shorebirds. The coast guard has / had recovered 329 oiled birds from Galveston Bay to North Padre Island, but nearly all dead, and observations of at least 500 birds with some traces of oil on Mustang island. Mant birds come across the oil as it washes ashore, and ingest the oil by preening. This has a number of fatal consequences. All the poor mammals in the ocean such as fish, marine animals, and those involved in the area's multi-billion dollar commercial and recreational fishing industry. Galvestons Bay's fishing industry has a high Possibility of being hurt by the spill. Studies found that some fish embryos developed deformities caused from the 2010 BP Oil Spill, and many concerns are that this spill will have the same similar effects. Soon as time walked along In late March, 50 local businesses filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against the two companies whose boats were involved in creating the
The goal of our research is to seek possible solutions to reduce the risks of offshore oil spills. To attain this goal, we gathered information from over twenty sources, including “Deepwater Horizon oil” from Wikipedia research and an article from the LA Times.
One of the most endangered species of the sea were also affected by the oil spills of the gulf, sea turtles. Turtles covered in oil were at risk of breathing the toxins of the oil, potentially damaging their respiratory system. Texas residents report that dead sea turtles continue to wash up. Although it is estimated that about 6,000 sea turtles have been harmed by the oil spill, only 1,146 have been officially collected.
In fact, of the tens of millions of gallons of oil that enter North American oceans each year due to human activities, only 8 percent comes from tanker or oil pipeline spills, according to the 2003 book Oil in the Sea III (Transportation Research Board and National Research Council) by the U.S. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, which is still considered the authority on oil-spill data (Geographic).” Oil ends up in oceans very frequently, and is extremely bad for both marine wildlife and the environment as a
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
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused eleven human deaths and approximately two hundred million gallons of oil to be leaked into the ocean over the course of eighty-seven days. In direct result with the oil spill, thousands of sea creatures, aquatic plants, and other sea-feeding animals began
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
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,
Many people wonder what actually happens to the animals when the oil spill happens. This
On April 20, 2010 the British Petroleum Deep Water Horizon (DWH) drilling rig exploded and subsequently sank in the waters of Gulf of Mexico. The result was the largest leakage of crude in the United States to date (Middlebrook et al.,
The harm done to the animals affectively will most like cut numbers in half or even eradicate the species all together. Scientist predict it will require more than a hundred years for the animals to gain back numbers they had in 2010. The oil not only touch anything on the top, there was so much of it every animal within the Gulf of Mexico does
Throughout history, humans have had many adverse effects on the ocean. However, in the past century, a new threat to the ocean has arisen. Oils spills are one of the most dangerous human effects on the ocean, partly because they’re so difficult to reverse after they’ve happened, and because many of the chemicals that get released into the water are extremely toxic to a lot of creatures. Oil spills are usually caused by two ships colliding with each other, a ship colliding with another object, or as in the case of the BP oil spill, an explosion.
The Gulf oil spill happened on 20-April-2010 was the worst oil spill in U.S history. The BP pipe leak oil and gas on the ocean floor with approximately around 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Oil and water can’t mix together since oil density is lighter compare to water therefore oil float on the top of surface water. The oil floated on the surfcace and formed together to become the large oil slicks. These large slicks covered water surface which affect the animal live on surface water such as pelicant or other seabirds. In order to stop the slicks from damaging the coastal ecosystems and species, the engineer used dispersant chemical. However, the dispersant compound somewhat had effect on the life of species in the contaminated area especially the bottom floor. To understand what happened to the life of species on the bottom floor, a group of research lead by Helen K.White was conducting the investigation the deep sea-coral communities in the Gulf within 15 miles from wellhead as
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).