Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Animals can also be internally diagnosed via necropsy by identifying petroleum hydrocarbons in their fat, liver, or kidney tissues [2] For damage assessments, the death of the animal must have occurred after the oil spill. [1] The severity of damage directly correlates with the amount of oil spilled and the animal's exposure to oil. [4]
The oil spill directly affected Atlantic bluefin tuna, as approximately 12% of larval tuna were located in oil-contaminated waters, [9] and Gulf of Mexico is the only known spawning grounds for the western population of bluefin tuna. [7] A decaying fish trapped in oil inside the Bay of Isles, Alaska after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The oil slick as seen from space by NASA's Terra satellite on 24 May 2010. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been described as the worst environmental disaster in the United States, releasing about 4.9 million barrels (210 million US gal; 780,000 m 3) of crude oil making it the largest marine oil spill in history.
A 2014 study of the effects of the oil spill on bluefin tuna funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Stanford University, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium and published in the journal Science, found that the toxins from oil spills can cause irregular heartbeats leading to cardiac arrest. Calling the vicinity of the spill ...
Oil spills are one of the most emotive of marine pollution events. However, while a tanker wreck may result in extensive newspaper headlines, much of the oil in the world's seas comes from other smaller sources, such as tankers discharging ballast water from oil tanks used on return ships, leaking pipelines or engine oil disposed of down sewers ...
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually applied to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land.
When oil spills occur, the affects can be felt in an area for decades and can cause massive damage to the aquatic life. For aquatic plant life an oil spill could affect how light, and oxygen is available for photosynthesis. [100] Coral Reef Community. Two other examples of the many ways oil harms wildlife are in the form of oil toxicity and ...
Oil spills also impact marine environments, contributing to marine pollution as a result of human activity. The effects of oil on marine fish have been studied following major spills in the United States. Shipping is a major vector for the introduction of exotic marine species, some of which can become overabundant and transform ecosystems.