Oil Spill in the Gulf Symone Jacas Table
Oil Spill in the Gulf Symone Jacas
Table of Contents • • How it Happened Environmental Issues Animals Affected How We Can Help Horrifying Facts Photos Bibliography
How it Happened • April 20, 2010: explosion on Deepwater Horizon • • • offshore oil drill rig in Gulf of Mexico Kills: eleven Injures: seventeen Rig owned and operated by Transocean April 22, 2010: US Coast Guard estimates rig leaks oil estimated 8, 000 barrels a day April 24, 2010: discovered wellhead damaged and leaking oil into the Gulf
Environmental Issues • More than 82, 000 birds; about 6, 000 turtles; • • nearly 26, 000 marine mammals; and other fish harmed by spill More than two million toxic dispersants sprayed into Gulf, making waters more toxic for species Oil continues to coat seafloor
Animals Affected: Birds • Birds that frequently land on the water contract deadly • • • hypothermia when oil destroys insulating layers of feathers Buoyancy decreased by oil Inevitably consume oil once they groom their feathers Serious effects: ulcers, diarrhea, kidney and liver damage, anemia and death Breathing in oil causes pneumonia, neurological damage and cancer Food chain disrupted by oil If oiled birds don’t die from exposure, reproductive success lowered
Animals Effected: Fish • Fish eggs and larvae at risk because they • • cannot escape spreading oil Came during spawning season, threatening the next generation of fish Already effected by Hurricane Katrina, shrimp and oysters consume environmental toxins and pass it on to their predators
Animals Effected: Marine Mammals • Marine mammals are air breathers and must swim to • • the surface frequently, bringing them in contact with the oil Oil exposure causes chemical burns and irritation, ulcers and internal bleeding from consuming, and poison from contaminated prey In oil spills, marine mammals suffer major losses to their population
How We Can Help • Tri-State Bird Rescue And Research: the • • organization that treated the first oiled bird Audubon Nature Institute: positioned units in affected areas to treat sea turtles or marine mammals Mobile Baykeeper: an environmental group based in Alabama participating in cleanups
Bibliography • http: //www. care 2. com/causes/10 -most-horrifying-facts-about-the-gulf-oill-spill. html • http: //www. telegraph. co. uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7816715/Gulf-of -Mexico-oil-spill-timeline. html • http: //www. google. org/crisisresponse/oilspill/ • http: //www. biologicaldiversity. org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_devel opment/oil_and_gas/gulf_oil_spill/index. html • http: //www. nwf. org/News-and-Magazines/National- Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2010/Oil-spill-species. aspx • http: //abcnews. go. com/WN/gulf-mexico-oil-spill-animalscleanup/story? id=10521929#. Ty. L 1 tc. VSTt 8
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