Inspection Program, local communities face financial hardship in the aftermath of large oil spills due to the inaccessibility of offshore fishing grounds and large die-offs that may occur as a result of a spill.
Seabirds also tend to suffer long-term effects of oil spills in the form of physical ailments and abnormalities. Well adapted for the marine environment, seabirds use their feathers to protect their sensitive skin from the surrounding water and air which also helps them float on the water’s surface. When these animals submerge part or all of their body to feed, oil can disrupt the barrier created by feathers and expose the bird’s skin. The bird may then preen, a process also known as grooming, to try to get things back in order. As the bird grooms, small amounts of oil may end up in the animal’s system causing issues as mild as diarrhea to more severe problems like liver and kidney failure or anemia, the breakdown of red blood cells. Other issues may include starvation due to prey sources dying off, lethal effects on eggs and chicks, and lung problems caused by the inhalation of toxic fumes produced by physical and chemical interactions of the oil and water. The Gulf region provides habitat for migrating bird populations which also creates an ideal location for bird watching. Between the West coast of Florida and Texas, referred to as the Gulf coast, bird watching tourism and associated expenses bring in billions of dollars each year. When bird species are affected by even the smallest oil spill, surrounding human communities suffer economically as well.
Finally, marine mammals, most commonly whales and dolphins in the Gulf region, are vulnerable to the effects of oil spills. While it is reported that whales and dolphins are rarely seen with oil on their skin, oil and the dispersants used in attempts to clean it up can end up in the food that they consume. While it is not harmful to eat one small crustacean or fish with oil or other chemicals in its system, a large animal such as a dolphin or whale that may need dozens or hundreds of pounds of food per day will take in more chemicals that have made their way up the food chain, a process called bioaccumulation. Being mammals, dolphins and whales have large fat stores called blubber to help keep their core body temperature stable in the marine environment. Chemicals such as crude oil and oil dispersants can be stored for long periods of time in the blubber, causing harm to the animal or its offspring when the fat is used for energy or to produce milk for nursing. As you can imagine, marine mammal species are just as vulnerable as fish, shellfish, and seabirds when it comes to physical ailments along with reproductive and developmental abnormalities in the days, months, and even years after an oil spill. Almost three decades later, we still see these effects in killer whale pods in the waters affected by the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in 1989, pods that will likely die off in the next few years since not a single calf has been documented by researchers since the spill. With very few exceptions, marine mammals are not generally a food source in the United States, so the economic value they posses relates to wildlife tourism and the fact that they are sentinel species, a fancy way of saying that, since we share our coastlines and eat similar foods, marine mammal health can be indicative of the future of human health.
It is safe to say that we will continue to see the effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill and smaller spills that occurred in the last few years, especially with the amount of resources dedicated to researching and rehabilitating affected communities, both human and animal alike. For this reason, attention needs to be paid to regions near offshore oil exploration, especially those which have been affected by an oil spill in the past. Some notable organizations dedicated to restoring the Gulf region and working in and with local Gulf communities include the Gulf Restoration Network, Mission Blue, Ocean Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, World Wildlife Fund, and The Nature Conservancy to name a few.
With careful scientific tracking of the damaging effects of oil over long periods of time, we can build a case for a world that is less dependent oil and increase the care required to prevent and respond to the significant ecological and economic impacts of oil spills, no matter what the magnitude.
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