Essay On Oil Spills

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What is an oil spill?(JDB)
An oil spill is a type of pollution which consists on the dumping of petrol into the environment, mainly into oceans although it can also occur on land. These oil spills are mainly caused by the release of crude oils, wells, platforms and drilling rings. These oil spills, can very well damage the environment and therefore causing many consequences to different groups of animals and pollute the area where the dumping took place.

Deepwater Horizon spill (MBR)
This devastating event began the 20 of April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. it took away with it eleven lives and injuring seventeen more it is considered the largest oil spill ever in the history of the petroleum industry. For about 87 days there was a sea-floor oil gusher, until the 15 of July …show more content…

Although all types of birds can suffer from oil contamination, birds such as gulls, ducks, pelicans, auks, grebes, terns and loons are the majority of birds that are being affected. The condition of the bird’s wing gets really worse losing its sheen. A bird’s wing are accurately arranged in a line of feathers to be water proof and protect the sensitive skin from cold or hot temperature. However, sticky oil causes the feathers get tangled and messy. Consequently, the vulnerable skin is exposed to the intense temperature and damaging the ability of waterproof. Birds can get cold or overheat without the proper protection of their feathers. In addition, they will lose their buoyancy and drown in water. Some birds try to clean the oil sticked on their wings by preening. However, they can swallow the oil accidently and trigger severe problems on their organs. As a chain effect, the birds lose vast amount of weight and dehydrate causing painful anemia. As their health worsens the become unable to catch food or evade predators. The eggs laid by oiled birds will have a thin layer of oil in the shells and the chicks will be