The document discusses the environmental impacts of offshore oil drilling and oil spills. It describes the multi-step process of locating and drilling for offshore oil reserves, which includes seismic surveying that uses sound waves to map underground resources but can harm marine mammals. Offshore drilling produces toxic waste waters and cuttings that pollute the environment. Major oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez disasters caused widespread damage to wildlife like birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals from oil coating and ingestion. Oil pollution has long-lasting impacts by persisting in the environment and disrupting food webs.

1. Off-Shore Oil Drilling
By: Christian Ricchezza
http://grist.org/oil/2011-05-02-the-house-wants-to-expand-offshore-drilling/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businesslatestnews/8314063/In-
pictures-the-machines-that-use-Rolls-Royce-engines.html?image=5

2. http://www.upworthy.com/did-you-hear-about-that-big-oil-spill-that-just-
happened-no-not-that-one-no-not

3. http://www.businessinsider.com/seismic-airgun-
testing-explained-2013-8
The Drilling Procedures
First Step Second Step Third Step
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/stories/types-of-
offshore-oil-rigs
http://www.mnn.com/earth-
matters/energy/stories/types-of-offshore-oil-rigs

4. ● Researchers send seismic waves
into the water to reveal buried
topography
o Created through compressed
air
● Waves bounce back, indicating
where reserves may be
● Impacts to mammals within the
vicinity
o Defenders of wildlife
Seismic Surveying
pcsageology.blogspot.com

5. ● These animals are highly
sensitive to sound waves
o Seismic tests distort ability
to communicate and travel
● Not a reliable way to locate
reserves beneath the seafloor
o Educated guesses
 “Never know until you
drill.”
● The location process of oil
reserves under the seafloor
impacts certain organisms like
Mammals
Continued...
http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2011/02/28/things-that-go-bump-in-the-bight/

6. ● Various toxic fluids produced
o Disposed of daily
 Inhibit wildlife
● Drilling Fluid and metal cuttings
o 90,000 Metric tons
● Drilling muds
o Lubricant for drilling bits and
pipes
● Produced water
o 20% of waste produced
o Contents of 30 to 40 ppm
Drilling
rosaninstones.nl

7. ● April 20, 2010
o BP - operated macondo
Prospect oil rig
● Largest accidental marine oil spill
o 11 workers perished
o 170 million gallons of oil
● Environmental consequences
o Short term
o Long term
Deepwater Horizon Incident
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/8155309/Gulf-of-
Mexico-oil-spill-White-House-report-criticises-BPs-response-to-disaster.html

8. ● 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and
other marine animals found
injured or dead
● Birds
o Coated feathers
 Drowning, Hypothermia
● Mammals
o Ingested oil
 Stomach ulcers
● Corals
o Dead and dying
Short Term Impacts
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/
2010/06/scenes_from_the_gulf_o
f_mexico.html
http://blog.thesietch.org/2012/04/06/gulf-of-
mexico-oil-spills-effects-on-deep-water-corals/
http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/06/18/gulf-oil-spill-
update-animals-crowding-near-shorelines-face-risk-of-
mass-die-offs/
www.animalplanet.com

9. ● Oil persists over long periods of time
o not visible on surface
● Hundreds of Stranded turtles
o National Wildlife Federation
Statement
Long Term Impacts
● Occured at peak of breeding
seasons
○ Eggs and larvae
● Entire generations wiped out
○ Impaired food web
● Few in numbers, but cause
devastating effects
http://www.examiner.com/article/bp-gulf-oil-spill-pictures-
top-kill-update-watch-live-feed-of-oil-leak-off-louisiana-
http://www.csmonitor.com/From-the-news-wires/2010/0629/Sea-turtles-wildlife-
experts-set-to-collect-and-move-eggs-away-from-Gulf-oil-spill

10. ● Most oil rigs 1 mile off the coast
o Barges and tankers needed
● ⅓ of worldwide petroleum spillage
o National research council
● Mineral management service
o 1 spill every day for 40 years
o Large spills every 3 to 4 years
● Transportation makes oil entering
the ocean inevitable
o Persists over long periods of
time
Transportation
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rperks/more_american_want_clean_
energ.html

11. ● March 24, 1989
o 10.8 million gallons of oil released
o 13,000 miles of coastland
● Oil can spread extremely quickly
o 50 yds per second
● Direct impacts of oil are hidden
o Fishermans statement
● 20 years later?
Exxon Valdez Disaster
http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/7/2012-04-17/ship-fails-titanic-to-today.html

12. ● Highly organic soils
o Oil difficult to remove
● Organisms rely on environments
for survival
● Kills existing plant life
o Essential for binding soils
● Also affects wildlife
o National Wildlife Federation
● Oil persists over long period
o health and birth defects
Coastal wetlands
http://kboo.fm/node/21948

13. ● Terrestrial arthropods
o Food source
o Decompose plant material
● Trophic link
o Terrestrial and marine
vertebrae
Lower trophic levels
● Phytoplankton
● Vulnerable to ecosystem changes
○ Adverse reactions
● Delicate changes cause significant
problems
○ Nutrient content
○ Reduce biodiversity
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1946000/oil_from_bp_spill_becam
e_food_for_plankton/
www.animalplanet.com

14. ● Fish, birds, and mammals
o Contact, smothering,
toxicity
● Fish
o Poison eggs
o Contaminated gills
● Sea birds
o Majority of time on surface
o Reduce buoyancy
● Mammals
o Temporary eye problems
o Kidney damage
o Behavioural abnormalities
Higher Trophic Levels
www.animalplanet.com

15. ● Birds
o Chronic oil ingestion
 Birth defects
o More birds drowning
● Mammals
o Blubber/ fur properties
 Hypothermia/ death
o Chronic ingestion
● Undeveloped cleaning procedures
o Difficulty to clean some
species
o Secondary fungal infections
Chronic Exposure
wikiarmstrong7.wikispaces.com
www.huffingtonpost.com

16. ● Located in high current areas
o Gas exchange
o Food delivery
● Hydrocarbon rich plumes
o Excess sediment deposition and
accumulation
● Bp Macondo Prospect
o Brown fluclants
 Weathered oil
 Hydrocarbons
o Excess mucus production
o Tissue loss
● Direct impacts on coral
communities
Coral communities
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/012345/full/news.2010.589/slideshow/1.
html?identifier=1
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=83538&tid=3622&cid=125889
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/012345/full/news.2010.589/slideshow/1.html?identifier=1

17. ● Follow up study
o Accumulation rate >
dispersal rate
● Communities overrun by hydroids
o Excess stress
o Reduce biodiversity
● 69 coral communities accessed
o 47 had hydroid colonization
o Others had no living tissue
Chronic exposure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzXLcMxIdws
blogs.mprnews.org

18. ● Continuous Threats
● Catastrophic events impacts the
environment for many years
● No sure way to prevent oil
leakage
o Or disasters
● Pushing boundaries of the ocean
o 71% of our planet
Conclusion
https://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/4118-104

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