Coral Reefs Before & After Oil Spills - Coral reefs noticeably lose color and become darkened due to industrial pollution and crude oil contaminants during oil spills.
Image Credit: San Diego Mesa College Marine Biology Department Students - YouTube
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Effects on Aquatic Life
Effects on Aquatic Life
Benzene, and other volatile organic compounds (VOC) found in crude oil, often accidentally or intentionally interact with marine ecosystems due to chemical spills in freshwater bodies. These oil spills are often the result of petroleum industrial processes, including offshore oil exploration, transportation, and storage.
Benzene spills have had numerous detrimental impacts on the survival, growth, and reproduction of marine organisms, and have caused adverse changes in freshwater ecosystems. Benzene exposure to aquatic life can negatively change organisms' physical appearances, disrupt behavioral/physiological activities and patterns, and shorten their lifespans. Crude oil pollutants, including benzene, also impact the water temperature and pH, species diversity, and vegetation production in marine ecosystems.
Changes & Effects on Food Webs in Marine Ecosystems
Changes & Effects on Food Webs in Marine Ecosystems
Petroleum toxins, including benzene, that contaminate aquatic life can result in growing detriment due to biomagnification, as those toxins move upward and accumulate through the trophic levels. The lethal and sublethal effects of benzene and other VOCs on marine organisms disturb the various food chains and food webs in these ecosystems, beginning with producers at the first trophic level, including planktonic organisms. These producers can lead to bioaccumulation of the contaminants from crude oil as the pollutants rise through the trophic pyramid, eventually affecting the tertiary organisms at the top.
The absorption, inhalation, or ingestion of crude oil in marine organisms can disrupt their biological processes, and compounds such as benzene damage an organism's cellular metabolism. Furthermore, chemical oil spills can significantly destruct keystones species, such as the substantial devastation of the coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The acute loss and desecration of the corals led to considerable decreases in species biodiversty and abundance.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2010 - The DWH petroleum company accidentally released 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, negatively impacting aquatic life and public health.
Image Credit: Shark Research & Conservation Program (SRC) - University of Miami
Dolphins in Polluted Waters - Contaminated waters due to oil spills from petroleum industries harms marine life, including dolphins.
Image Credit: CNN
Phytoplankton Blooms - Marine and freshwater bodies with excessive nutrients often result in phytoplankton blooms.
Image Credit: Akash Foundations
Effects on Water & Soil
Effects on Water & Soil
During oil spills, crude oil accumulates and deposits on the seafloor, harming tropical marine habitats. Oil accumulation on the water’s surface obstructs sunlight, depletes oxygen, and disrupts photosynthesis for aquatic plants, leading to eutrophication. Eutrophication occurs due to increasing oil accumulation in the water, and is when the marine environment becomes excessively rich in nutrients (particularly, nitrogen and phosphorus) and causes dangerous algal blooms and oxygen depletion.
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