Oil can coat a bird’s wings and leave it unable to fly or strip away the insulating properties of a sea otter’s fur, putting it at risk of hypothermia. Generally, oil spills harm ocean life in two ways:įouling or oiling: Fouling or oiling occurs when oil physically harms a plant or animal. Where the oil is spilled, what kinds of plants, animals, and habitats are found there, and the amount and type of oil, among other things, can influence how much harm an oil spill causes. How do oil spills harm or kill ocean life? The Office of Response and Restoration’s mission is to develop scientific solutions to keep the coasts clean from threats of oil, chemicals, and marine debris. When oil spills happen in the ocean, in the Great Lakes, on the shore, or in rivers that flow into these coastal waters, NOAA experts may get involved. Oil spills can happen anywhere oil is drilled, transported, or used. Consequences to ecosystems and economies can be felt for decades following a large oil spill. These tend to happen when pipelines break, big oil tanker ships sink, or drilling operations go wrong. Large oil spills are major, dangerous disasters. But these spills can still cause damage, especially if they happen in sensitive environments, like beaches, mangroves, and wetlands. Most of these spills are small, for example when oil spills while refueling a ship. Oil spills are more common than you might think, and they happen in many different ways. About the education resource collections.NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database.NOAA in your backyard: Education contacts near you.
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