Environmental Disasters

Environmental Disasters — page 3 — Biologists from the U S Fish and Wildlife Department worked to rescue birds from the oil spill Wildlife lived on Gulf beaches deltas barrier islands marshes and the deep ocean floor Oil affected life at every level Gushing oil made plumes in the open water Waves and currents broke apart the plumes Smaller oil blobs floated free in the water For a month the oil floated in the Gulf Then lines of oil arrived with the waves coating whatever life it reached Marshes and wetlands in Louisiana were hit first The oil moved across the coasts of Mississippi Alabama and Florida The oil also drifted down to the ocean floor Clean-up began immediately The U S government holds the driller responsible for cleaning up the spill Clean-up crews and volunteers from across the country rescued oil-covered animals and worked to collect the oil Scientists feared the immediate danger and worried about the future of the Gulf coast 6

Environmental Disasters — page 4 — ALASKA The Exxon Valdez accident taught lessons on oil spills and oil removal There oil coated 1,300 miles 2,000 kilometers of Alaskan coastline The images of oily animals shocked people The spill killed hundreds of thousands of birds otters seals eagles whales and billions of salmon and herring eggs Oil remains on some beaches today Valdez oil spill Oil and Birds Effects of an oil spill on birds shows up right away But other problems can occur too Oil damages feathers With damaged feathers birds can’t float or fly They try to clean their feathers and the oil poisons them They lose their insulating ability Birds get cold and die Oil-coated food is harmful too Liver damage or blindness from eating oil keeps animals from competing for food or escaping predators Long term oil affects organs changes behavior and damages genes 7

Environmental Disasters — page 5 — Oil-coated birds dolphins and sea turtles emerged from the Gulf oil spill too Wetland marsh grasses blackened Oil clung to the animals skin and their skin absorbed the toxic chemicals Oily gills smothered fish Oil entered the food chain Absorbent pads skimmers and booms soaked up or contained the oil for removal Workers spent months cleaning animals and wiping marsh grasses Chemical dispersants like deodorized kerosene broke apart oil pools Long booms float on the water in an attempt to contain the spilled oil from fouling these marshes The boom has a skirt that hangs below the slick to keep the oil from spreading 8

Environmental Disasters — page 6 — Workers sucked up surface oil from inside floating booms or burned it Some oil broke into tiny pieces and floated off Oil stays in the environment for years Birds migrate through wetlands Coastal habitats support eggs and larvae of countless animals Oiled food and habitats kill billions of eggs and the young of fish and shellfish Damaged habitats harm endangered or fragile species The toll of the spill isn’t clear yet Scientists believe it could affect marine life for years U S Fish and Wildlife biologists dug up sea turtle nests and their eggs along the Gulf Coast They shipped the eggs to the space center in Florida saving a generation of hatchlings from swimming into the oil-filled water 9

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