Deepwater Horizon Effect

Massive cleanup efforts were initiated within a few weeks of the spill and they continued at reduced levels for the next three years. Approximately 14% of the spilled oil was recovered by cleanup crews (Newsweek, p.50). As a result of these efforts and natural weathering, little oil from the spill remained in the affected area by 1992. However, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration some oil residues are still found under the ocean surface in areas sheltered from wind and waves. Yet, these residues are highly weathered and the toxicity is reduced to levels tolerable by organisms in the water (7). Nonetheless, the magnitude and timing of the Exxon Valdez oil spill raised immediate concerns about possible effects on marine fish and wildlife and prospects that these effects might be long lasting.

The article "The Amazing Penguin Rescue" main idea is that oil spills can cause lots of problems to the animals such as the African Penguin. For example on paragraph 7 from "The Amazing Penguin Rescue" it states "You are not the only penguin that has become soaked with poisonous oil." Another example is found on paragraph 13 it states "It

They failed to include with these evaluations any sources of error in the data they disclosed. For example, inconclusive data surrounding specific species prior to the spill in Prince William Sound or the inexperience scientists had in dealing with a spill of this magnitude. This paper will focus on investigating the news media’s coverage of the spill, in light of scientific research performed, on the environmental impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The environmental impacts studied will demonstrate the errors in the news media’s reporting and ultimate irresponsible reporting of the spill.

Regardless of their attempt, the spread of the oil to the surface and shore of the ocean was inevitable. Therefore, all marine animals were affected by the oil contamination in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil filled the blowholes and entered the lungs of dolphins and whales. This made breathing almost impossible.

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.

In an article posted by CNN, it is revealed that "BP was ruled responsible for the release of 3.1 million barrels" (Griffin et al). The process of removing the oil is in progress, but there is still a magnitude of oil to be cleaned up. This disaster did not only affect the environment, but it also affected the workers involved. It is also mentioned in the article that eleven workers died. The disaster affected the lives of many people other than the oil rig workers, however. There have been some concerns about the quality of seafood being produced from the area, along with the health effects it had on the community. The New England Journal of Medicine mentions in their article that " Louisiana reported 415 self-identified health problems believed to be related to the Gulf oil spill" (Goldstein et al). The oil spill has had a profound effect on the gulf coast community and will continue to for many years to come. Hopefully, this horrible event can be a lesson for the future, so that more precautions are taken to benefit nature and

On April 20th 2010 an explosion on an oil ridge of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, was the cause of the greatest environmental disaster in history of the United States. This explosion took the lives of eleven men who were working on the ridge, and also ruptured an oil line, which dumped more than 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This oil spill significantly affected the wildlife of the gulf coast, killing hundreds of fishes, birds, and reptile that call the gulf coast home. The spill also affected global supply chain for major industries.

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

The moral obligations including the legal of the wild and coral life at the location of the disaster need to be addressed. Mr. President of United States administration didn't address the issue several times and skipped to answer the questions of media raising doubts about the damage it created to the wild and coral life. The entire tourism industry along with the fishing industry was completed closed leading to many economic and financial crises in few states of the United States (David, 2013). For days, the animals in the sea, including the fish, dolphins were found on the shores of the Mississippi and Louisiana states and after careful medical review, they were poisoned because of the crude oil settled deep into the ocean. Ecological damage is very hard to measure and it could take few years to properly document the extent of damage created by the oil spill.

The first most significant fact about the Exxon disaster is that more than 300,000 birds and 2,600 otters were killed because of the oil spill. The reason for this large number of animals being killed was because of the ingestion of toxic chemicals, starvation, and because of hypothermia when trying to swim through the oil causing the oil to soaked feathers, which than cause the birds to lose their insulating capacity. The second significant fact is that the cleanup that they were trying to do was futile because when they would clean the oil up more oil would come back cause only 3% of the oil to be clean. The third most significant fact is that with the steam cleaners and pressure washing only drove the oil deep into the ground and rocky

Still people make the argument that oil is just too important to stop drilling and that if anything we should drill more. Again author Margaret Haerens talks about how “According to the nation academy of Sciences, current cleanup methods can only remove a small fraction of the oil spilled into the ocean, leaving the remaining oil to continue affecting ocean ecosystems over time” (126). The long term impacts of offshore spills continue to corrupt the oceans and who knows when they will completely be gone. The effects of the oil directly on sea life such as sea birds, fish, shellfish, and other sea life are extremely dangers. “Studies have shown that tiny amounts of oil – as little as one part per billion – can harm pink salmon and cause their eggs to fail” (Haerens Margaret). Imagine swimming in the ocean when a large pool of toxic oils comes floating along right into you when you are trying to enjoy a day at the beach. Not only is offshore drilling have one of the longest lasting ecological impacts on society and living things on and off shore, it effects our economy as well.

Petroleum pollution immensely affects the environment surrounding the spill. Since the Southern Ocean is home to ample levels of marine life, many species that live in the water and on the shores such as birds are killed or damaged as well as the habitats. In arctic climates, the breakdown of oil and gasoline happens at a slower rate compared to oil spills in warmer waters. The period of recovery is a burden as it could take years for the oil to disperse and for all the damage to be repaired. This could possibly mean that many species of animals could be underpopulated or endangered because of a tragic

My concerns are the animals that are continuing to be harmed by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a deadly accident that caused a lot of harm; it destroyed Gulf fishing and tourism industries. The spill injured 17 people and 11 people lost their lives. The marine

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,

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.