Oil Spills...

Definition
An oil spill is a release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term often refers to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters. Oil spills include releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, and heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil. Spills may take months or even years to clean up. Oil also enters the marine environment from natural oil seeps. Public attention and regulation has tended to focus most sharply on seagoing oil tankers.

Some of the many effects on animals coming into contact with CRUDE OIL : - hypothermia and drowning of birds as the oil breaks down the insulating capabilities of feathers, makes them heavier and compromises flying ability - if oil is ingested, it can either poison the animal outright, make them extremely sick or create a level of toxins in their system that then causes poisoning further up the food chain. Birds and other animals often ingest oil when trying to clean themselves. Shellfish and corals are particularly at risk in these scenarios as they cannot escape from an oil slick. - damage to the airways of birds and animals. - damage to animal immune systems - thinner bird and turtle egg shells and also damage to fish larvae, causing deformities

 tainting of algae, which perform a vital role in waterway ecosystems Even once the oil appears to have dissipated, it can still lurk beneath the surface of beaches and the sea bed, severely affecting marine organisms that burrow, such as crabs, for literally decades. These burrowing creatures are also food for other animals, so the cycle of poisoning continues for many years. There's really no aspect of a marine and coastal environment that is not in some way adversely affected by an oil spill. The closer the spill occurs to the shoreline, the more pronounced the damage will be due to coastal zones being home to more concentrated and diverse populations of marine, bird and animal life than far out to sea.

Oil spills that occur near a coastline, cause more harm than the oil spills that occur into the open sea because marine life habitat is usually more dense in the areas near the coastline than in the middle of the ocean. The oil spill effects on the marine life is decided by the type of oil spilled, location of the oil spilled and the breeding season of the habitat in that area. The main problem with oil is that once it spills, it spreads far and wide in the ocean, thereby increasing the damage. When the marine animals consume the oil spilled in the water, the oil gets into their body and many die due to suffocation and poisonous effects of the oil.

Oil Spill Effects on the Environment Oil spill effects on the environment are as follows: Damages the red blood cells and hinders the smooth blood circulation in animals. Liver failure in marine mammals. Damage to fish larvae and young fish. Poisoning of young ones of the marine animals, as they consume mother's milk. Destruction of coral reefs, seagrass and mangrove habitat, that are the major sources of ecological balance in the oceans. Respiratory problems and skin irritation leading to aggressive or dull behavior of the animals.

Here's five of the biggest marine spills in historyPersian Gulf - January 23, 1991 - up to 1,500,000 tonnes Gulf of Mexico - 2010 - approximately 574, 000 tonnes (August estimate) Gulf of Mexico - June 3, 1979 454,000 - 480,000 tonnes Trinidad and Tobago - July 19, 1979 287,000 tonnes Fergana Valley Uzbekistan - March 2, 1992 - 285,000 tonnes

Mumbai oil spills

The oil leak from the sinking cargo vessel MSC Chitra has been plugged with the Indian Coast Guard saying Operation Chitra has been successful and the ship has been stabilised. But nearly 800 tonnes of oil is already believed to have leaked out into the Arabian Sea and has been seen floating close to the coastline threatening marine life. The oil spill has already spread over an area of 25 square kilometers and the hazardous chemicals and pesticides may affect about 200 species of marine life. Mangroves off Navi Mumbai are in danger of being destroyed and the debris caused by the collision of ships may pose navigational problems.

Exxon-Valdez Oil spills

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in
tanker Prince William Sound, oil

Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an bound for and
Long Beach, spilled

California, struck

Prince William

Sound's Bligh Reef

260,000 to 750,000 barrels (41,000 It is considered to be one

environmental disasters.[3] oil spillit

to 119,000 m3) of

crude oil.[1][2]

of the most devastating human-caused

As significant as the Valdez spill wasthe largest ever in U.S. waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon ranks well down on the list of the world's
largest oil spills

in

terms of volume released.However, Prince William Sound's remote location, accessible only by helicopter, plane and boat, made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed existing plans for response. The region is a
habitat

for

salmon, sea otters, seals

and

seabirds.

Both the long-term and short-term effects of the oil

spill have been studied.Immediate effects included the deaths of, at the best estimates[citation needed], 100,000 to as many as 250,000 seabirds, at least 2,800
sea otters, Eagles,

approximately 12
orcas,

river otters,

300

harbor seals,

247

Bald

and 22

as well as the destruction of billions

of salmon and herring eggs.The effects of the spill continued to be felt for many years[quantify] afterwards. Overall reductions in population were seen in various ocean animals, including stunted growth in pink salmon populations.The effect on salmon and other prey populations in turn adversely affected
killer whales

in Prince

William Sound and Alaska's Kenai Fjords region. Eleven members (about half) of one resident pod disappeared in the following year. By 2009, scientists[who?] estimated the
AT1 transient population

(considered part of a

larger population of 346 transients), numbered only 7 individuals and had not reproduced since the spill, this population is expected to die out.[citation needed] Sea otters and ducks also showed higher[quantify]
death rates

in

following years,[quantify] partially because they ingested prey from contaminated soil and from ingestion of oil residues on hair due to grooming. Some twenty years after the spill, a team from the
University of North Carolina

found that the effects were lasting

far longer than expected.

Cleanup and recovery

Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Methods for cleaning up include:

Bioremediation : use of

microorganisms

or

biological agents

to break down or remove oil. Bioremediation Accelerator: Oleophilic, hydrophobic chemical, containing no bacteria, which chemically and physically bonds to both soluble and insoluble hydrocarbons. The bioremedation accelerator acts as a herding agent in water and on the surface, floating molecules to the surface of the water, including solubles such as phenols and BTEX, forming gellike agglomerations.
Dispersants

act as

detergents,

clustering around oil

globules and allowing them to be carried away in the water.This improves the surface aesthetically,

and mobilizes the oil.

Smaller oil droplets, scattered by currents, may cause less harm and may degrade more easily. But the dispersed oil droplets infiltrate into deeper water and can lethally contaminate are toxic to corals.
coral.

Recent research indicates that some dispersants Watch and wait : in some cases, natural

attenuation of oil may be most appropriate, due to the invasive nature of facilitated methods of remediation, particularly in ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands.
Dredging:

for oils dispersed with detergents and other oils denser than water.
Skimming:

Requires calm waters

adsorb

Solidifying: Solidifiers are composed of dry that both and

absorb.

hydrophobic polymers

They clean

up oil spills by changing the physical state of spilled oil from liquid to a semi-solid or a rubber-like material that floats on water. Solidifiers are
insoluble

in water, therefore the

removal of the solidified oil is easy and the oil will not leach out.

Prevention
Seafood Sensory Training- in an effort to detect oil in seafood, inspectors and regulators are being trained to sniff out seafood tainted by oil and make sure the product reaching consumers is safe to eat. Secondary containment - methods to prevent releases of oil or hydrocarbons into environment.

Double-hulling - build

double hulls

into

vessels, which reduces the risk and severity of a spill in case of a collision or grounding. Existing single-hull vessels can also be rebuilt to have a double hull.