Alpaca Fleece: Gulf Oil Spill

Oil spills are no uncommon occurrence with nearly 14,000 oil spill’s yearly causing water pollution as a consequence of many companies not knowing how to properly dispose of oil along with citizens not knowing proper procedures,one of the largest happened in 1989 when an Exxon Valdez oil tanker tipped over into the ocean.

2005). It’s a sticky substance, when it gets on something it acts like a glue. With such a massive concentration of oil, which was about 11 million gallons of oil, it had a huge effect on marine life and plants. Oil has herbicides, which are chemicals that kill plants and when they’re exposed to such a huge amount of it, it can affect a big area of plants on the shoreline and underwater. Oil has lower density than water, it will float when it’s mixed with it. It blocks sunlight and air from reaching the underwater pants. It does not allow plants to photosynthesize. Without photosynthesis, plants aren’t able grow or get oxygen so they will end up dying (Effect of oil spills on aquatic plants 2014). Oil affects the way most marine animals breathe and grow and can leave a sub lethal effect on them without killing them (How does oil impact marine life? 2014). Such a chemical like oil affects the way on how birds and marine life do in cold water like keeping a certain temperature. The study of chemical risks, or toxicology shows that without this ability to maintain a certain temperature they will die from hyperthermia. Oil is like a poison to marine life, and if it doesn’t kill the animal it leaves long lasting effects on them. With the huge dose most of these animals took of the oil, it led to a lot of deaths. This oil spill showed a lot of persistence because even after 30 years, the water was still contaminated with

Oil is a value of a lot of people in this world, it can take many years for it to be formed, not to mention that it's very expensive resource to remove from the ground and the ocean floor. Next when oil spills it covers the surface getting thinner and thinner until it looks like a rainbow, this rainbow is called the Sheene. The oil spills are very dangerous for marine life, either making it so the fur of the animal is no longer able to repel liquids or making it so they can't float or keep warm. Similarly Other animals (such as birds) may ingest the oil in the water and get very sick. The first step is to contain the oil and make it stop spreading, once we do that the damage the oil can do is more minor. The next step is to scare off the unharmed

The causes of ocean oil spills originate from hurricanes, people’s mistakes, equipment malfunctioning, and terrorist reactions. When an oil spill occurs, it often occurs in tankers, refineries, or pipelines that are being shipped to another facility (Background on Oil Spills). After the oil is spilled onto the salt water, it disperses at a fast rate, which makes oil slick. The oil continues to spread, causing it to weaken and it resembles a rainbow (Background on Oil Spills). When an oil spill occurs on the uppermost layer of water, it “evaporates, is degraded by sunlight, gets consumed by microbes, or washes up on beaches (Begley).

Help, help, that's all our animals are trying to say is help. Oil spills are one of the many ways that environments are destroyed and animals are killed. Don't you want a world where animals can live in peace? Marlee Matlin, once said “ The earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth”. The earth is not ours, It's not ours to hurt and destroy , we are in no position to be making tiny careless mistakes that are killing animals!

Another way is containing the spill with a boom and just burning the oil. This is normally done with smaller oil spills but the fire can be for the environment. Oil spills cause a major hazard to creatures such as marine life and birds. Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters, and the water-repelling abilities of a bird's feathers, thus exposing these creatures to the harsh elements. During most oil spills, seabirds are harmed and killed in greater numbers than other kinds of creatures. Oil penetrates bird’s feathers preventing them from flying and eating. Some birds try to remove the oil by ingesting it leading to severe damage in its organs. Also, the oil that is stuck to the feathers, causes them to mat and separate, impairing waterproofing and exposing the animal's sensitive skin to extremes in temperature. This can result in hypothermia, meaning the bird becomes cold, or hyperthermia, which results in overheating. Oil spills can also make adult fish may experience reduced growth, enlarged livers, changes in heart and respiration rates. Oil also adversely affects eggs and larval

There have been many oil spills in the ocean, some big and some small. All of these oil spills have had a huge effect on the wildlife in the ocean. The oil from the oil rig stays on the surface of the water because oil is less dense than the water, this causes the oil to just float cause it can't go anywhere else and it won't mix in with the water. This is harmful in so many different ways to the life in the ocean. The oil can prevent sunlight from penetrating the surface, which can cause it to be dark under the surface. The oil also can cover thousands of birds, mammals, and sea turtles. When birds land in the water they become covered in oil. The oil ruins the insulating and waterproofing properties of the fur and feathers, and without feathers

There's others ways that oil spills can happen. When oil tankers have equipment faults it can cause a hazardous result. Oil will move out of land and spill into bodies of water. Oil spills are not just a little spill that is easy to clean. Although oil floats on water, it spreads out generously. The oil will spread out and be a thin layer that lays on top of the water. Even though it is thin it can be very hard to clean.

Oil spill are defined as the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment. Oils spills are often caused by accidents involving tankers, barges, pipelines, refineries, drilling rigs, and storage facilities. Which usually happens when people are careless, equipment breaking down, illegal dumping and unlikely events such us, a natural disaster like a hurricane. The effects of a little spill and a bigger spill is very different because a little spill in a situation may demonstrate considerably more hurtful than a bigger spill at some other time in another or even the same environment. Indeed, even little spills can have harmful impacts. Oil spills can influence creatures and plants in two courses: from the oil itself and from the reaction. Understanding both sorts of effects can help spill responders minimize general effects to biological groups and help them to recuperate substantially more rapidly. Spilled oil can hurt living things in light of the fact that its substance constituents are noxious. This can influence organic entities both from inner introduction to oil through ingestion or inward breath

My hypothesis was that the oil would harm the environment. For example, it will hurt or even kill the animals and plants. The procedures of my environment helped me to see the damage that would occur by oil coming in contact with the clay and moss. It was very difficult to clean-up the oil from the plants and clay. The data from my project helped me learn about the largest oil spill that happened in the United States. I learned about the damage and how hard it was to clean up. I learned that “nature starts to react immediately” for example, some of the oil evaporates into the atmosphere. Also I learned about the sticky black tar that long ago trapped many animals. In 1989, a 987-foot-long oil tanker, the “Exxon Valdez slammed into a reef off the coast of Alaska.” “nearly eleven million gallon of crude oil poured through gashes in the ship’s hull into the clear waters of Prince William Sound.” This was the second largest oil spill in the United States waters. In conclusion oil spills damage our environment many times having a lasting impact. The effects of an oil spill will depend on a variety of factors including, the quantity and type of oil spilled, and how it interacts with the marine environment. Prevailing weather conditions will also influence the oil’s physical characteristics and its behavior. Other key factors include the biological and

Oil spills can happen anywhere and anytime. You don’t really hear about them when they happen, because some people don’t think they’re a big deal. They can be prevented if oil companies didn’t use old pipes that’s been there for years. The state of Peru has brought in this oil company called Petroperu. When they were brought in they told the Indigenous people “with oil, you and Peru will grow.” Since then the Oil company has spilled tons of crude oil in the Amazon river contaminating communities water and food supply.

The environmental impact of an oil spill can last for decades. In 1969, an oil tanker ran aground in Buzzard's Bay Massachusetts, spilling 175,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the marine ecosystem. According to Dr. Judy McDowell and Christopher Reddy, two scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, it took about a decade for the normal inhabitants of the bay to return. What's more troubling, is that even 40 years later, soil samples still reek of diesel fuel (Guarino & Spotts, 2010, p. 2). This kind of damage can have an irreparable effect on the gulf states' economies. If it takes 10

Literature suggest that the essential management practices to follow when responding to an Oil Spill is to dispose of oil spill debris with the aim of

Oil contamination is devastating for an environment. The free release of oil into the water leads to a wide range of negative consequences, such as “the spread by wind and wave” (Bai & Bai, 2014, p. 363). The oil spillage from the Deepwater Horizon platform floating on the surface was spread by wind and sun, moving over the water’s surface. As a result, the oil spread affected the environment, including the wildlife.

Spills of crude oil are generally larger in volume and more frequent than spills of refined oil. Most components of crude oil do not dissolve easily in water, but those