6 Oil Spills / 2014
The Effects of Oil Spills on Marine Organisms
P. Hotchkiss-Needleman
Sea otters and other shoreline dwelling creatures with fur are vulnerable to oil spills. If their fur becomes matted, they can die of overheating or hyperthermia, depending on the season (3). For dolphins, whales and other open-sea creatures, the oil can enter their blowholes, making breathing more difficult. The oil can enter their lungs and internal organs causing significant damage. It can also enter their eyes, which can damage vision.
Mammals
Floating oil exposes seabirds to many risks, especially species that dive for their food or congregate on the surface. The oil ingested from preening themselves may be lethal, though most seabirds die from drowning, starvation, and loss of body heat in the wake of the oils. (IOTPF) Birds that are covered in oil have a difficult time flying, and thus are more susceptible as prey. The compromised coastal nursery grounds mean that eggs are often covered in oil, making the birds abandon their eggs (neaq). These effects can cause breeding to severely decline, leading to permanent or semi-permanent long term loss in the number of species of birds (15).
Seabirds
Fishes suffer from oil spills because they eat floating particles in the water, including oil particles. When fish ingest oil and chemical dispersants, they show signs of severe physiological problems, mutations, and increased mortality. (3).
Sea Turtles have an extremely hard time when areas are affected by oil spills because their already tentative birthing process is further compromised when beaches are completely covered in oil. Their breeding grounds are compromised making it difficult to reproduce. If baby sea turtles do hatch, they have trouble in an oil-coated ocean where they may eat the oil and suffer increased mortality. The sea turtle populations have not recovered after the BP oil spill. (7)
Fish
Sea Turtles
*Many other organisms are affected by oil spills