Oil spills can seriously affect marine plant life.
Oil spills can occur in a variety of ways, including mishandling of pipelines and tankers. Its profound effect on the marine environment has been carefully documented, largely due to famous spills like the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Oil spills affect marine life in many ways, and without the intervention of scientists and environmentalists, the marine environment can have a slow recovery time. .
Oil from a spill can prevent a bird from flying and can cause hypothermia.
In addition to the main sources of oil spills and oil spills, a large amount of oil enters the marine environment through daily human activity. Storm drains, for example, collect a large amount of petroleum waste from streets and carry it into the world’s oceans. Spills can also occur due to natural seepage from areas containing oil. The most dangerous type is the one that releases a large amount of oil at once, taxing the ocean’s ability to process it. These large oil spills affect marine life in a very negative way.
Otters are often severely affected by oil spills.
When oil is spilled, most of the volatile compounds quickly evaporate. The oil, however, remains floating on the surface of the water and begins to disperse, forming a very thin film that can cover large areas of water. Marine life that lives, hunts, or travels in the oil-covered area may be affected. Different types of marine life experience different impacts depending on their physiology and habits. Compounds that remain after volatile compounds play an important role in why oil spills affect marine life, as many of them are toxic, dense, and bioaccumulative.
Mussels can accumulate toxins from oil spills.
One of the most direct ways that marine life is affected by oil spills is the suffocation of plants and animals. Marine plants can become covered by a film of oil that prevents the exchange of oxygen and water, causing the plants to die. The marine life that feeds on this vegetation, in turn, will struggle to survive. Layers of oil in the meat of birds and mammals can literally kill them by suffocation. Oil spills also affect marine life, such as birds, by removing the waterproof layer of their feathers. An oil-coated bird may have difficulty flying and develop hypothermia as a result of exposure to extremely cold water. Mammals also suffer, as the oil can remove water-resistant compounds from the skin layers of marine life, such as otters and seals.
Oil booms used to limit the spread of an oil spill into the ocean.
Oil spills affect marine life like filter feeders, targeting the meat of these animals. Clams, mussels, and oysters can quickly accumulate toxins, which can kill animals or be passed up the food chain. Human consumers often complain that shellfish harvested from an oil spill impact area tastes strong and oily. Animals that depend on these filter feeders for food can become ill and die as a result of consuming them. Oil spills often affect marine life at multiple levels of the food chain and require a lot of work to fix.
An offshore oil platform. Oil spills on platforms can be devastating to the environment.
Inhaling and ingesting compounds related to oil spills can also harm marine life, both in the short and long term. In the long term, oil spills interfere with the ability of marine life to breed, reproduce, grow, or perform other vital functions. The toxins in the oil can also cause cancer and other long-term illnesses. If left untreated, the area around an oil spill can become lifeless. Fortunately, there are ways to clean up oil spills. In addition to chemicals, environmentalists also use bacteria that thrive on compounds in the oil to digest it and make it less harmful.