Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Essay

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in 1989 when the vessel struck on the reef in the Prince William Sound of Alaska. The reason contributed in the tanker grounding, the vessel was navigating outside the shipping lane in a purpose of avoiding the ice. Then, the seafarer could not maneuver the ship properly due to fatigue while the captain provided poor navigation as well. As a consequence, the tanker spilled an approximate of 11 million gallons of crude oil and most of it moved toward the southwest starting from Prince William Sound, Alaska. Moreover, the spilled oil had many reactions, some evaporated, some sank, some broke down by bacteria and digested by the sea life, and some moved towards the beaches in the Alaskan shore. After the oil

Almost 250,000 sea birds, 22 whales, 2800 otters, and 300 harbor seals died due to the oil spill. After three years, the death of sea birds increased from 250,000 to approximately 435,000 (Charles H. Peterson, 2003,P. 2082). Moreover, the long and short terms effects, contributed to impact the commercial fishing, tourism and recreation. In reference to the commercial fishing, the Alaskan economy dropped due to the oil spill, especially the Alaskans rely on fishing as it considered being the main economic activity. What is more, Salmon and Herring are the two types of fishes the Alaskans depend on. However, directly after the spill, the number of Salmon decreased rapidly which resulted in closing many Salmon fisheries. In respect of the herrings, before the spill incident occurs, the herring fishery was always high. Nevertheless, after the spill in 1993, the herrings’ quantities decreased which made them unable to rebound to support the fishery. Furthermore, regarding the tourism and recreation, as a result of the spill the recreational fishing sport has suffered significantly. In 1989, the recreational fishing loss was estimated by $580 million (Dorset, 2010,P. 4,5,6). Additionally, in reference to the tourism, the tourism industry in Alaska has suffered a dramatic drop after the incident. This was due the limited of service such as