What Are Oil Spills?
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The worst oil spill in history, the Gulf Oil Spill leaked about 200 million gallons of oil into the ocean (Gulf Oil Spill, 2012). BP’s Deepwater Horizon Oil rig exploded 5,000 feet beneath the surface and it leaked oil for 87 days. Then 1.4 million gallons of chemical dispersants were poured into the ocean to try to dissolve the oil (Gulf Oil Spill). Oil in the ocean destroys the insulating ability mammals with fur, like sea otters, and the water repellency of a bird's feathers. This exposes these creatures to the harsh elements and makes the ocean unsurvivable. Oil also causes severe defects in fish larvae as well as adult fish(How Does Oil Impact Marine Life?, 2016).
The effects of the Gulf Oil Spill have still not been determined because of the sheer size of the spill and the long term effects that it can have. Oil spills have such a large impact on marine life because they just aren't well understood and there is really no good way of cleaning them up. There are many different methods to try to clean oil spills, including In-situ burning, chemical dispersants, sorbents, skimmers and booms, however none of these methods are particularly effective and some do more harm than good (In-situ burning and chemica
chemical dispersants) (How Do Spills Happen?).
The conventional idea of an Oil spill is when crude oil is “accidentally” released into a body of water by an oil tanker, refinery, storage facility, underwater pipeline or offshore drilling rig(Chow, 2010). However there are many different sources that oil enters the oceans from (How Do Spills Happen?, 2016).
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill
In-Situ Burning
Situ Burning
By: Spencer Goryl