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Click on the oiled bird to view an article about oiled birds.
Click on the wetland to see more photos
WHY WAS THE TIMING OF THE OIL SPILL SO BAD?
The timing of the oil spill was unfortunate because it was during breeding season,Trans-Gulf migration season, and hurricane season. It was bad that it was during breeding season because all the marine animals in that area were laying eggs and having babies, and the eggs and baby animals were very vulnerable. Billions of fish larvae died in the spill, and many baby turtles and sea turtle nests were affected by the oil.
Trans-Gulf migration season is a time when millions of birds cross the Gulf of Mexico, and the spill occurred right in the middle of it, affecting the birds' migration,
Hurricane season meant that big storms would be coming, and that complicated clean up and recovery efforts, and spread the oil farther with rough seas.
THE GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill (also called the Deepwater Horizon oil spill or the BP oil spill) happened on April 20th, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles southeast of the Mississippi River Delta. It was the largest oil spill in history. It was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. The explosion caused a leak that gushed oil for 86 days before they could cap it. About five million barrels of oil were released into the ocean, causing a lot of damage to wetlands and killing a lot of marine wildlife.
HOW CAN OIL COME IN CONTACT WITH WILDLIFE?
There are four main ways that oil can come in contact with wildlife: ingestion, inhalation, absorption and physical contact.
Thousands of animals were severely injured by the oil spill, from dolphins to tiny birds, to sea stars and coral. The oil spill affected the wetlands around the Gulf of Mexico as well as about 28,958 miles of ocean.
HOW ARE BIRDS AFFECTED?
Thousands of birds were injured and killed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. When a bird gets oiled, its feathers get matted and separate, making the bird lose its buoyancy, flight ability, and ability to regulate body temperature. It can get hypothermia and die, or else have the oil enter their blood stream and kill them. If they get oil on their skin or face it can cause skin and eye lesions. They also ingest the oil while preening. About 7,ooo birds were collected after the oil spill.
HOW ARE SEA STARS AFFECTED?
Sea stars have a water vascular system, meaning that instead of blood running though their bodies, it is water from the ocean around them. When the ocean has oil in it, the sea stars take in the harmful chemicals from the oil, and they are spread all through its body. The oil sticks to the sea stars' cilia and organs. This diminishes the sea stars' ability to reproduce, digest, move and do other thing essential to their survival.
HOW ARE SEA TURTLES AFFECTED?
Sea turtles need to come to the surface of the water to breathe, and when the surface of the water is covered in oil, the sea turtles breathe in dangerous fumes when they inhale. They can also get coated in oil. When they lay eggs in the sand the eggs can get oil on them, making the babies much more likely to die before making it to the ocean. Oil on the beach can get in the way of a baby turtle's trek to the water. Once in the water, oil is harmful to baby turtles who are already so vulnerable.
HOW ARE OYSTERS AFFECTED?
Oysters are filter feeders, meaning that they get their food though the water. When the water they are taking in is contaminated with oil, the oil enters their sytems. PAHs (or toxins) in the oil accumulate in their bodies making it harder for them to move around, feed, grow, and attach themselves to surfaces. They also become unsafe for humans and marine animals to eat.
HOW ARE WETLANDS AFFECTED? WHAT DOES THIS DO TO THE ENVIRONMENT?
When an oil spill reaches a wetland, some of the wetland plants get coated in oil, and oil soaks into the soil. The plants getting coated in oil make the stomata on the plant get clogged, so the plant cannot photosynthesize. Toxins that have gone into the soil are absorbed by the plant, hurting or killing it.
When wetlands die, an important part of the ecosystem dies. Wetlands provide many things to humans and animals. They serve many functions: soaking up water so rivers and lakes don't flood, slowing the flow of water, helping protect against coastal erosion, filtering sediment and pollutants out of water, providing protection, breeding grounds, and food to marine wildlife, and providing an area to grow food crops like rice. Wetlands are very important, and oil spills can be disastrous to them.
OIL SPILL PREVENTION?
Humans can help prevent more oil spills by making sure that the tankers that carry our oil have double hulls so they don't break and cause more oil to leak into our oceans.
The government could change laws about safety rules so that oil rigs have to be made better and have better quality safety technology.
We can do our part by disposing of motor oil correctly by recycling it. We can make sure our cars don't have leaks, and most importantly- CUT BACK ON ENERGY CONSUMPTION. If we didn't need so much oil, we wouldn't need so many rigs, and there would be less opportunities for accidents.
Do your part in saving wildlife: be GREEN!
Click on the oiled pelican to watch a video about how the spill affected marine wildlife
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