Damaged pipelines, tankers or even offshore oil rigs are the 3 biggest players for oil spills. When such thing happens, it almost immediately leads to long-term damage to our environment. By long-term, we mean something that can last for at least a decade. It is just pitiful to see areas being damaged and suffering from such preventable events.
Marshlands, Fragile Aquatic Ecosystems and Beaches
An oil spill can easily coat almost everything that crosses its path. When oil leak comes from large spill, most probably it will reach beaches and would cling and coat virtually every grain of sand and rock it touches. Now, in case that the oil has been washed off to coastal marshes, wetlands or mangrove forests, then fibrous plants as well as grasses will absorb the oil. Sooner or later, plants that absorbed the oil will die and make the impacted area unsuitable for wildlife.
Birds
Birds can’t distinguish whether there’s oil spill in the water or none. Thus, they are vulnerable to being covered by oil. Basically, birds are the universal symbol for environmental damage that is caused by oil spills. There are species of shore birds that may just be able to escape by migrating to a different area if they sense that there’s danger.
However, it is not the same with sea birds that is swimming and diving for their food. Most probably, they are common suspects for being covered in oil spill. Aside from that, oil spills has the capability of disrupting the migratory patterns of birds after it contaminated areas in which migrating birds stops.
Marine Animals
More often than not, marine mammals similar to dolphins, sea otters, whales and dolphins got killed because of oil spills. This is because of the reason that oil might clog blowholes of dolphins and whales. This makes it virtually impossible for them to breathe while disrupting their communication abilities. In cases of seals and otters, their furs can be coated by oil which makes them vulnerable to experiencing hypothermia.
These consequences are what motivating private groups to work harder in educating people about proper practice for handling such cases. They use all possible methods to meet their objectives whether it is finding post office near me to send mail to private companies, emails, social media campaigns and so on.