On CBS News, one can find the article “Study: "Dirty
Bathtub" Buried Oil from BP Spill” by Bailey Johnson and was published on
January 29, 2013. Article link:
The
largest oil spill in United States history was the Deepwater Horizon disaster
of April 20, 2010. A large percent of
the crude oil that began gushing from the Gulf floor four years ago is still
unaccounted for. It is estimated that as
much as 1/3 of the oil spilled in the Gulf has caused a dirty bathtub. This phenomenon occurs when oil and deep
ocean sediments mix.
Another
oil-caused problem in the Gulf is the dirty-blizzard phenomenon. The rate that plankton and other surface
materials rain down on the sea floor has increased by 10 times. The oil acts as an adhesive on the small
particles on the surface. It forms
little clumps out of the particles and they sink down to the sea floor. The author stated, and I quote “The findings
are backed up by further reports showing that during the spill, layers of water
that would normally be cloudy with suspended plankton instead appeared
transparent” unquote. This is strong
evidence to the fact that the oil has trapped plankton and other particles in
oily clumps and caused all the clumps to sink to the bottom in epic
proportions. Scientists suggest that the
dirty blizzard grew in proportions as it sunk closer to the dirty bathtub. The currents at the bottom of ocean churned
up the oil already there, and on its way back down to the sea floor it created
more clumps, thus worsening the dirty blizzard.
David
Hollander, a chemical oceanographer with the University Of South Florida
College Of Marine Science in Tampa, Florida claimed that the Gulf might have
absorbed up to 30% of the spilled oil, and this is due to the dirty bathtub and
dirty blizzard. Researchers say that
there will be long term effects on both humans and marine life if the Gulf has
absorbed as much oil as scientists say.
There are species of fish that survive on sediment feeding creatures,
and these species are commercially fished.
Oil could remain in the marine food-chain for years if there is as much
oil on the Gulf floor as suspected.
Oil
will stay in the marine food-chain just like mercury does. As fish eat multiple of the fish below them
with oil in them, the amount of oil in fish will bio magnify. The bio magnification of oil in fish will
affect all levels of the marine food-chain.
This will come all the way up to humans; any seafood we eat from the
Gulf will have traces of oil in it, exactly the same as fish with traces of
mercury in them.
The
Gulf of Mexico is a largely commercially fished area. In my opinion, cleanup efforts should be
given full effort in order to protect humans who eat the gifts of the marine
ecosystem, and to protect the marine ecosystem itself. If the oil kills a large portion of plankton,
then the bottom of the food-chain is gone.
Level by level, we will see the Gulf ecosystem disappear. Not just the marine life but shoreline plants
are killed by oil that washes ashore.
The ecosystems around the Gulf will not be the only thing that is
affected. The economy that depends on
the Gulf will be greatly damaged.
Fishermen can’t sell fish that have crude oil in them because people
won’t want to eat them. People won’t stay
in shoreline hotels because they do not want to look at a dead, oily coast
line. I think there is a plethora of
reasons to clean up the Gulf oil spill to best of our abilities in order to
preserve the culture around the Gulf.
Alec, this is a great blog post! Oil spills are a very serious problem that is very hard to get rid of in an environment. I would never have thought that some spills are so catastrophic as the ones you described. I agree that cleanup efforts should be given full effort from the effect on ecosystems oil can have. I never new that oil also effected plankton as well which could lead to a collapse of the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. This should be looked into further because if these spills keep happening our oceans could be majorly changed. Overall, great post Alec
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. It really opened my eyes to the fact that there is still a lot of oil in the oceans. I also liked how you told all the things that happened to the different organisms. That really related to class how we learned that if one organism in a food web is hurt or diminishes then all other organisms are effected. Overall great post and great spacing of paragraphs. The post was informational yet not boring. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that 4 years after the spill in 2010 there I still oil in the oceans. I liked how you explained that not only are the ocean organisms being harmed from the oil, but humans are too. We are eating the organisms living in that unhealthy environment. I agree that something needs to be done about the oil left over in the oceans. Overall, really nice job!
ReplyDeleteThis post was very fascinating to me. I am amazed that still one third of the oil that was dumped in the gulf is still there. I agree with you when you said that there should be more funding for the cleanup because it's still hurting the ecosystem as well as the animals that live in it. Also I liked how you related these issues to people as well because fishermen are losing their jobs because of all the oil that get's into the fish. Overall you did a very good job.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good topic. Its hard to think that they'd let 1/3 of the oil stay in the ocean. You did a good job explaining how the animals and people are harmed since its such a heavily fished area. Pointing out that it'll affect people want to live there is good. I do wish you had put some possible cleanup options. Otherwise very good job.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It made some great points about the oil in gulf and how it is affecting the environment. Your connection to biology class by tying it in to biomagnification was really good. Next time maybe put in a few solutions to the problem but otherwise, good job!
ReplyDeleteAlec, I think you chose a great article to blog about this time. It’s a very important topic considering how much it affects us as you had stated in your post and I thought it was fascinating to hear about how it affects the marine ecosystem only because I never had thought it would have those certain effects. What I was wondering the most about is what is the dirty bathtub effect because does this mean people are taking showers with oily water and if so, how would people fix it? I do believe this was a catastrophic event for the Gulf and it is even worse if it has the same effects mercury does because I have seen that and they are not good. This was a great article and a really good post.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I expected this blog post to be about real bathtubs, I was not disappointed. It seems we've all forgotten about that oil spill four years ago, but it still wreaks havoc in the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystems. I particularly liked how you listed ways it could effect the economy. Well done Alec, very well done.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this blog post. I knew about the spill a few years ago before reading about this post, and I cannot believe it is still affecting the animals in the Gulf! I thought that that problem would have been solved by now. I liked how you mentioned that it also affects the lives of fisherman and how well hotels in the area do. I believe these problems are just as important. I wish you had included a few solutions to the problem. Other than that, awesome job!
ReplyDeleteAlec,
ReplyDeleteTo reinforce what Matt said, I was surprised to discover that this was not about an actual bathtub, but was pleased to see that you took on a topic that needs to be brought to light, especially how it seems that many people have forgotten about the terrible oil spills that our country has caused. Your wording and writing flow made your piece very easy to read, and your paragraph spacing made it look very neat, and not like a huge jumble of words. Overall, excellent piece of writing!
-Travis
When I saw your title I expected it to be about actual bathtubs, but after reading i belive that it was refeering to the ocean. This is a very interesting blog post and a scary topic to think about. You did a nice job explaining the effects and I liked how you put in your opinion about the cleanup crews; I totaly agree. Good job.
ReplyDelete