Oil Spills
Human Dependence Project
What are the 2 main issues of oil spills?
What negative effects do oil spills have on the environment?
What are the main regions or areas in or nearest to North America affected by oil spills?
What wildlife is most affected by oil spills?
5. Brown Pelicans: The state bird of Louisiana, the pelican nests on barrier islands and feeds near shore. Brown pelicans only came off the endangered species list last year, but they've had a rough time in past seasons with storms. Their reproductive rates are low. Breeding season just started, and with eggs incubating the oil could pose a significant threat.
4. Marine mammals (whales, porpoises, dolphins): Oil spills pose an immediate threat to marine mammals, which need to surface and breathe. Not only does the oil pose a threat, but also the nasty toxins that the oil kicks off into the air.
3. Sharks: Shark species worldwide are in decline. The grassbeds south of the Chandeleur Islands are very close to the oil spill. These grasses are a known nursing area for a number of shark species, which are now beginning their spawning season in the Gulf. Whale sharks, the world's largest fish, feed on plankton at the surface of the water and could also be affected.
2. Sea Turtles: Five of the world's seven sea turtle species live, migrate and breed in the Gulf region. Kemp's ridley is the world's most endangered species of sea turtle, and one of its two primary migration routes runs south of Mississippi. Loggerhead turtles, also endangered, feed in the warm waters in the Gulf between May and October.
1. North Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: The Great Bluefin Tuna, prized for sushi and sashimi, is one of the species most in danger of slipping into extinction. Traveling down across the Atlantic seaboard, bluefin tuna spawn in the Gulf of Mexico between mid-April and mid-June.
How are the wildlife affected by oil spills?
Scientists are still assessing the effects of the estimated 170 million gallons of oil that flooded into the Gulf after the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig. More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the six months after the spill.
Do oil spills affect our lives in League City? If not, could it ever reach our area?
There was a huge oil spill in Galveston in 2010, and we are very close to Galveston, so it might have brought some oil to our area.
Are people affected by oil spills? If so, explain how.
Who or what causes oil spills to occur?
What are the solutions that people have come up with for oil spills? If there are not any solutions, what are people doing to prevent oil spills?
bacteria living in the ocean actually “eat" oil when it enters their natural habitat. Adding sulfate or nitrate fertilizers to the microorganism population causes them to multiply beyond their natural state and eat up the toxic metals invading their home at up to five times the rate that they would without assistance. A Norwegian company has come up with a totally natural way to soak up nasty oil slicks – peat moss. The super absorbent moss they’ve developed can be scattered on the spill to absorb the oil, and then scooped right out of the water along with the oil