Oil spills are caused by a variety of factors, but the most common are caused by the malfunctioning of large machines such as boats or drilling machines, human accidents, ignorance or carelessness, and as an act of eco-terrorism. Illegal dumpsters, refineries, storage sites and pipelines are also big contributors to the oil that pollutes our beautiful oceans.
When oil is spilled, it's behavior depends on a multitude of scenarios such as weather, location, density of the oil, and the amount of oil spilled. After hitting the surface of the water, the oil, if it is extremely heavy, will sink, particularly in freshwater. If the oil is lighter, it will stay on the surface of the water, continually spreading. This is what we call an oil slick. The oil slick continuously gets thinner and thinner, and keeps spreading, forming an oil sheen, giving the surface a rainbow look.
Effects on Wildlife
Many marine animals and birds are choked by the oil. The thickness of the oil has the ability to shut down the breathing, thermoregulation and make it hard to find prey.
Effects of the Chemicals
The chemicals in the oil can be absorbed into the cells of many marine plants and animals. The effects of the chemicals could range from serious impairment of basic functions to death of the organism.
Effects on Biological Systems
With the oil killing and impairing marine life and birds, the food chain will change significantly. For example, if the oil spill kills majority of a population, their prey would start to grow rapidly, as nothing is really keeping them in check. The rapidly growing population will now require more food, simply because there are more organisms that require food. The prey of the increasing population will then experience a decrease, and so on. Sometimes when organisms find a lack in their preferred prey, they will feed on the prey of other organisms. There will then be a lack of prey for the organisms that had their prey stolen, having the same effect explained above. Also, if most of a certain population is killed, it is up to the remaining part of the population to reproduce. This means that the population may experience dramatic changes, especially if there was a mutation that contributed to the survival of the remaining organisms.
Effects on Animal Habitat
Oil clean up operations will disturb wildlife in the area of the spill. Also the spill itself will not allow for the animals to have proper, safe habitats in that area.
Booms- floating barriers that are put around the source of the spill to prevent spreading of oil
Skimmers- boats that skim the oil from the surface of the water
Sorbents- big sponges that absorb the oil
Dispersants and bio agents- break down the oil
Situ burning- burn the oil from the surface of the water when it is freshly spilled
Washing- beaches are washed with water of varying pressure
Vacuum trucks- oil is vacuumed from beaches and the surface of water
Shovels/other moving equipment- oil affected sand is shoveled and/or moved to areas where the it can be cleaned by moving around by waves
How Do Spills Happen?, 5 Feb. 2019, 3:15pm PST, response.restoration.noaa.gov/training-and-education/education-students-and-teachers/how-do-spills happen.html#:~:text=Oil%20spills%20into%20rivers%2C%20bays,drilling%20rigs%2C%20and%20storage%20facilities.&text=Spills%20can%20be%20caused%20by,equipment%20breaking%20down.
Itopf. “Environmental Effects of Oil Spills.” ITOPF, www.itopf.org/knowledge-resources/documents-guides/environmental-effects/#:~:text=Oil%20spills%20may%20impact%20the,as%20respiration%2C%20feeding%20and%20thermoregulation.