Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Research Paper

Oil spills have an immensely negative impact on aquatic organisms, or marine life. An oil spill is the release of liquid petroleum into the environment. Oil spills can occur both in the ocean and on land. This is because the oil is transported in large quantities by ocean tankers. These spills can occur during loading, transportation, and unloading. It’s estimated that accidental oil spills from tankers and offshore rigs release about two hundred and fifty million gallons of oil into oceans per year. There are two categories oil spills can fall under, either point source pollution or nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution is when the the polluter is easily identifiable, whereas nonpoint source pollution there is not just one identifiable

On March 24th, 1989 eleven million gallons of oil were spilled into the water, which affected about one thousand two hundred miles of shoreline of Prince William Sound, including other places in Alaska. The oil spill destroyed many coastal habitats, and had a serious effect on aquatic life and birds. At least one thousand otters were killed and thirty six thousand dead seabirds were recovered from beaches. However, the actual amount of seabirds killed was estimated to be in the range of one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand birds. On top of this at least one hundred and fifty three bald eagles were poisoned when they ate the remains of oil covered seabirds. “The sound's coastal ecosystem is permanently damaged. Thousands of gallons of Exxon Valdez oil still pollute the beaches; this oil is still toxic and still hurting the ecosystem near the shore. The government considers, as of 2010, only 13 of the 32 monitored wildlife populations, habitats and resource services that were injured in the spill as fully "recovered" or "very likely recovered." Some are still listed today as "not recovering"’ (Holleman). Of course, Exxon Valdez is not the only oil spill in history. The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is considered the worst accidental oil spill in history as of 2014. On April 20th, 2010 two hundred and ten million gallons of oil were released from a leaking pipe into the Gulf of Mexico, which covered about sixty eight thousand square miles of the Gulf waters. The spill went undiscovered for almost three months before it was finally sealed on July 15th, 2010. “The immediate impacts on the marine life, wetlands, ecosystems, organisms, and economies of several coastal states were severe. Coastal wetlands were covered with oil, destroying habitat used by animals such as sea turtles, which lay their eggs on