Oil Spills: Who Are the Victims?

Humans have been dependent on oil since the early 1900s.  Through the years, especially recently, more and more problems have grown out of this dependency. We’ve all heard about the occasional oil spill, but what you may not realize is that there are lots of problems that can result from such spills.  Valuable oil is lost in the process, and, on top of that, the water is polluted.  But one effect that you don’t often hear about is the harm that comes to animals through oil spills.

There are a few things about oil that hurt animals.  The most common victims are birds.  They swim or dive unknowingly into a patch of oil, and it quickly coats their bodies in greasy, black oil.  When the birds try to clean themselves, they ingest the oil and are poisoned.  Their body temperatures can also become dangerously low, because the oil makes it impossible for them to retain heat.  In this case, the animals often develop hypothermia and die.

This past week, 46 swans were caught in an oil slick in the Tottenham Canal in London.  Luckily, the RSPCA managed to rescue them all before serious harm came to them, but not all animals are this lucky.  Some animal species have become endangered largely as a result of oil spills.  In 2002, an oil spill near the Galapagos Islands depleted the population of iguanas on one island by two thirds.

One especially devastating incident was the Exxon Valdez* spill, which occurred on March 24, 1989 in Valdez, Alaska.  An oil tanker headed for Washington state hit a coral reef near the Prince William Sound, which resulted in about 11 million gallons of oil spilling out into the ocean.  The cleanup response was slow, and at least 250,000 birds, otters, seals, eagles, orca whales and fish died immediately. 

ExxonMobil’s Website currently states, “The environment in Prince William Sound is healthy, robust and thriving. That’s evident to anyone who’s been there.”  However, in 2003, University of North Carolina scientists conducted a study and found that many Prince William Sound habitats will take as many as 30 years to return to normal.  That doesn’t sound, ‘robust and thriving,’ to me.

Why should these animals have to suffer in the name of oil dependency?  Humans are at the top of the animal kingdom because of our superior intelligence and technology.  Along with this advantage comes a responsibility to keep the world clean and safe for all the others who share it with us.  It isn’t the animals who are polluting the air, the water, and the land.  The future of humanity and other life depends upon the way we manage the environment now. 

Of course, we obviously aren’t about to stop the transport of oil altogether; it is an essential component of our everyday lives.  Oil is used in our gasoline, cars, plastics, health and beauty products, and medicines, to name just a few.  Maybe it would be more realistic to suggest a compromise.  I think that one idea that should be considered is restricting areas where oil is being shipped.  This would at least limit the frequency and widespread areas in which oil spills occur.  It would also allow us to have cleanup procedures more accessible and nearer to the sites of the spills.

We should also mandate inspections of oil-transporting ships regularly and before each voyage.  If we had simply been more proactive, many of the accidents in the past could have been prevented.  At the very least, attention needs to be paid to the animals that are being subjected to danger or death because of oil spills.  We need to focus more on improving the quality of rescue techniques in order to maximize the numbers of animals that are able to recover.

If you are interested in helping to protect animals and reduce oil spills, here are a few easy things that you can do:

 

  • Use household cleaners that are fruit or vegetable based rather than oil based ones.
  • When shopping, ask for paper bags, or use cloth bags rather than plastic ones.
  • Recycle, especially plastics and paper.
  • Monitor things that you dump down the drain; it will eventually end up in rivers, lakes, and water supplies.
  • Write to your elected officials to learn about your local and state policies on animal rescue and protection efforts.
*Just a quick update on the Exxon Valdez oil spill:  The case is going before the high court tomorrow  (Wednesday, February 27), to determine whether the ExxonMobil Company should have to pay more money for restoration efforts, in addition to the $3.5 billion they have already paid.  The issue is whether or not this oil spill violated a part of the Clean Water Act, which specifically governs shipping requirements.  The company is lobbying against the costs, despite posting the largest profit by a U.S. company in a single year earlier this month– $40.6 billion.  To read more about this development, click here.

Citations:

“ExxonMobil Statement- The Condition of Prince William Sound,” ExxonMobil. February 22, 2008. http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/about_issues_valdez_sound.aspx

De Vette, Sancha and Plastino, Lorena. “Crude Oil, Cruel World.” Ocean Link. August 2004. Ocean Link. February 20, 2008. http://oceanlink.island.net/workexpaug2004/otters%20and%20oil2.html

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill. “Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Impacts Lasting Far Longer Than Expected, Scientists Say.” ScienceDaily 23 December 2003. 22 February 2008 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031219073313.htm

Conner, Steve. “Galapagos Oil Spill Killed Two-Thirds of Island’s Iguanas.” Bnet. Jun 6, 2002. The (London) Independent. February 21, 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020606/ai_n12625964

“Swans Saved From Canal Oil Slick.”  Tottenham, Wood Green & Edmonton Journal. February 21, 2008. February 21, 2008. http://www.tottenhamjournal.co.uk/content/haringey/tottenhamjournal/news/story.aspx?brand=TWGJOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newstwgj&itemid=WeED20%20Feb%202008%2012%3A29%3A07%3A603

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