Where Is Environmental Sky

     Oil spills effect all the organisms which have even a faint connect with water bodies. Effectively this would refer to almost every being on the planet, but there are some animal and plant species that are more badly effected as compared to others.

     Sea Otters
     The bodies of these otters are covered with oil, which leads to obstruction of air bubbles on the otter’s body or its fur, to be precise. These bubbles apparently help them survive the cold weather, acting like a protection and helping them keep afloat. Oil build up on their fur leads to death of the otters, because they are not able to adjust and protect themselves from the weather change. Sometimes sea otters are taken out and placed in observation and captivity to clean them off the oil after oil spills in the ocean. These are the oil spills effects on otters.

     Whales
     There is a possibility that the oil that has been spilled can be consumed by whales either directly or indirectly. Either ways, it is going to reach their blowhole, which helps them breathe. Consuming oil, blocks the blowhole and restricting the ability of whales to breathe, leading to their death. In many cases it also happens that whales gobble up small fish which swam through the oil before becoming fodder for whales. Thus, the oil reaches the whale’s system, poisoning it and it eventually leads to their death.

     Birds
     In aquatic birds, for starters, the oil seeps down and opens up the plumage of the birds, disturbing its structure. What it does is decrease the insulating capacity of the birds. This makes them more vulnerable to temperature changes and affects their capability to float in the water. In addition to this the flight of the birds is hindered, rendering them helpless when it comes to escaping from predators. Further, when they clean themselves (the process called preening), they tend to take in the oil covering their feathers. As a result of that, they experience altered liver function, kidney damage and irritation of the digestive tract. These problems in tandem with restricted foraging capacity leads to dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Ultimately if there is no human intervention, these birds die.

     Aquatic Flora & Fauna
     Apart from these, the dangers of oil spills are most observed with regards to smaller marine organisms, who dwell at the bottom of the ocean. Larval fish, plankton, seaweed, mussels, oysters, are considerably affected by oil spills in the ocean. Marine plants too are affected as the layer of oil on the top creates a hindrance in the process of photosynthesis. One of the most disturbing ocean pollution facts is that this culminates in a decrease in the amount of flora and fauna and an overall disturbance in the marine food chain.

     This is how oil spills affects the ocean. All said and done, however, the hazardous impact also depends on what kind of oil it is. For instance, if it is a light oil like diesel which spills, the oil does not stay in the environment for a long time. It gets evaporated very easily, though they it’s toxic and highly inflammable. On the contrary, oil used in power ships is not that toxic, but it is ‘heavy’ and does not get eliminated from the environment easily. They harden after coming ashore, where they are less toxic.

     That was just an aspect of how do oil spills affect the ocean and trust me there are innumerable facets to this issue. Oil spills in the ocean needs a serious thought and action on our part, so that we can try and save marine life and fight environmental pollution, which is destroying our planet bit by bit.
 
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Tags: Oil

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