Oil is an ancient fossil fuel that is used mostly for heating, electricity and transportation. However, oil does a lot of bad things to wildlife. Some spills are so big that astronauts can spot them from space.
The largest oil spill recorded was BP’s Deepwater Horizon back in 2010 located in the Gulf of Mexico. During the spill, roughly 230,000 gallons of oil were spilled out into the ocean. This resulted in the death of 2 to 5 million larval fish as well as 26,000 marine mammals, as stated by the Center for Biological Diversity. Since the incident, 100,000 tons of oil from Deepwater Horizon go into the ocean each year.
Biology teacher Charles Bunce explains why oil spills are so bad for wildlife living in the ocean.
“One of the biggest problems with oil spills is that they cover the ocean with a layer of toxic guck that’s made up of all different types of hydrocarbons and poisonous materials,” Bunce said.
Unfortunately, oil spills are still happening. Just recently, the Gulf of Mexico had another oil spill that potentially resulted in over 1 million gallons of crude oil spilling onto the ocean, according to the Coast Guard. This November 2023 spill would be the largest in the region since Deepwater Horizon.
Oil spills don’t only impact marine wildlife, but coastal wildlife, too. The oil that becomes stuck to birds makes it impossible for them to fly. It also strips away the insulating properties that protect them from the cold, resulting in hypothermia.
“We’ve all seen the commercials of seagulls and ducks and stuff like that covered in oil which keeps them from flying,” Bunce said. “They get it inside their systems, things like that. In fact, the BP oil spill from 2010 [still affects] the shrimp production in Louisiana after the oil spill there.”
Oil spills are still happening each year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late for people to help reduce the amount of oil getting spilled into the ocean.
“For those that want to help when an oil spill happens, they can volunteer to go to the area and [help clean it.],” Bunce said. “You can also donate to funds that help out with oil spills and the recovery of that impacted area.”
