Oil Spills: Effect on Wildlife

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Almost every year ocean wildlife, birds and other animals are killed or seriously injured due to tanker ship oil spills that could be prevented. Oil spills happen mainly due to captain and crew errors. As they travel across the ocean they become careless, non-observant, and make simple mistakes that cost millions of dollars as well as the lives and habitats of animals in the area and farther. Although, there are many other reasons for oil spills such as weather conditions, illegal dumping, countries at war or terrorists attempting to get a countries attention. There are other ways of transporting oil without having the chance of a spill causing the destruction of ecosystems, such as, by train or pipelines. The most recent oil spill took place March 29, 2013, when a pipeline ruptured from the Athabasca oil sands in Mayflower, Arkansas, about 25 miles northwest of Little Rock. It was reported that 5,000−7,000 barrels of oil were spilled. This spill proves that even today there are still very harsh oil spills happening across the world and that there is no perfect or real efficient way to safely transport oil. Oil coated beaches, dead and dying wildlife, damaged fisheries, contaminated water supplies, dying plants and organisms. These are the short-term effects of an oil spill. The long-term effects are much worse and deathly. Oil is capable of building up in the food chain to lethal levels, and destroying or disrupting an area's ecosystem. Seabirds including puffins, shearwaters, razorbills, and many more are frequently affected by offshore oil spills. These birds live mainly on open water, however; they can also become oiled in coastal waters since they come to coastal islands to breed. Spills can also severely harm tu... ... middle of paper ... ...ssurization. If anything is damaged, be sure to replace it. If you have a heating system, make sure you have an oil safety valve. If you do not have one, it is time to install one. This automatically turns off the oil supply in the event that the line breaks. It is a smart feature for everyone to have in their homes if they have a heating system. Works Cited (May 1, 2000) Oil Spills. http://events.awma.org/enviro_edu/fact_sheets/oil_spills1.html (January 3, 2014) 2013 Mayflower Oil Spill. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Mayflower_oil_spill (2014) Mother Nature Network: Oil Spills. http://www.mnn.com/eco-glossary/oil-spill Oracle Think Quest: Oil Spills, Projects by Students for Students. http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spills.htm (January 23, 2014) National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oilimpacts.html

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