The Oil Is Hiding

Despite the completed sealing of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (otherwise known as the BP Oil Spill, the Gulf Oil Spill) occurring on August 4, 2010, twenty six percent of the oil is still missing. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimate that of the toxic oil that was spilled into the Gulf, only seventy four percent has been accounted for, the rest seeming to be ‘in hiding’. Thirty three percent of the oil has been burned, isolated, or cleaned up. Twenty five percent has evaporated into the atmosphere, or been liquefied in the ocean. Another sixteen percent has been broken down into microscopic bits. However, wherever the remaining twenty six percent is, remains unknown. Experts believe that it is buried along the coastlines, just below the surface, and could rematerialize after years, or get swept into the ocean. With little to disturb the oil that is lying just below the surface of the shore, it may take years for a series of storms, or a hurricane, per se, to move the layers of sand under which the oil is lying.

This is relevant to biological concepts because the oil spill has caused the death of a great number of organisms. It has managed to put a number of species in danger, including the North Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna, sea turtles (five of seven of the world’s sea turtles live in the Gulf), sharks, dolphins, brown pelicans, oysters, and migratory song birds. If the remaining oil, which has been dubbed ‘toxic’, manages to further injure the organisms in the Gulf. Furthermore, the ecosystem at the Gulf is already fragile enough with inflicting anymore damage upon it.

This article is important, and the information it contains is significant for us to know, because with the recent damage the oil spill has caused to the gulf, every bit of attention it can get, in furthering the solving of this problem is necessary. With so much else going on in the United States, it’s important to remember that though the spill has been closed off, the damage it has caused is still there and the issue should still be a prevalent one.

Source: Dell'Amore, Christine. "Much Gulf Oil Remains, Deeply Hidden and Under Beaches". National Geographic. August 5th, 2010.

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Source: Furst, Elane. "7 Animals Endangered by Gulf Oil Spill". Environmental Graffiti.

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