An oil pollution is main the contamination of seas due to crude oil or fuel oil, by suffered average oiling anchors. In the case of a larger contamination, in particular even if the coast is concerned, one speaks of oil pollution.

Oil is easier than water. It swims at the water surface and it forms an oil carpet. The oil absorbs the undulation. On satellite photographs smooth appears black (see right picture). The apparently calm water tightens sea-birds. The viscous oil sticks the plumage together and usually leads to a mass dying of sea-birds and other animals of the ecological system concerned. Particularly an oil pollution in colder seas has catastrophic effects beyond years on the fauna, since the oil hardly evaporates there and is more slowly diminished than in warmer environment.

For the fight of an oil pollution is tried to suck off the oil with special ships, swimming on the water surface. The employment of chemical means, which let the oil clump and drop to the sea-bottom, is considered as problematic, there in place of the ecological system coast (fewer visible) the ecological system bottom of the sea is contaminated. If the oil concerned at the coast, also cleaning the beaches does not help any longer; the organisms are then already poisoned or suffocated. By cleaning attempts the oil arrives into deeper sand layers, where it is not any longer diminished. It seems that after an oil disaster nature at the best one can help itself even.

Large tanker disasters

• Anne mild-talk Brovig - to the west of Helgoland, 20 February 1966 - 20,000 t crude oil run out after a collision with the British Pentland
• Torrey Canyon before the coast 18. March 1967
• Sea star - gulf of Oman (1972) - 115,000 t crude oil ran out by a collision
• Hawaiian Patriot - Hawaii islands (1977) - 100,980 t crude oil - a cause: Fire
• Ms - French Atlantic coast (1976) - 10,000 t crude oil - a cause: Basic contact
• Amoco Cadiz (BP/Amoco, the USA) - 223,000 t crude oil before the bretonischen coast, March 1978
• Atlantic Empress - west India (1979) - 257,040 t crude oil - a cause: Collision
• Independenta - Turkey (1979) - 94,703 t crude oil - a cause: Collision
• Irenes serenade - Greece (1980) - 81,600 t crude oil - a cause: Fire
• Castillo De Bellver - South Africa (1983) - 239,000 t crude oil - a cause: Fire
• Odyssey - Canada (1988) - 136,000 t crude oil - a cause: Fire
• Exxon Valdez (Exxon, the USA) - 40,000 t crude oil in the Prince Williams Bay, Alaska 24. March 1989 a cause: Basic contact
• Haven - Italy (1991) - 100,000 t crude oil - a cause: Fire
• Aegean Sea - Spain (1992) - 80,000 t crude oil - a cause: Basic contact
• Braer - 84,700 t light crude oil before the Shetlandinseln, 5 January 1993
• Sea Empress - 72,000 t crude oil before the southwest coast of Wales, 15 February 1996
• Erika - 26,000 t crude oil in the southern bretonischen coast, 1999
• Jessica - protected area Galapagos islands (2001) - 900 t fuel - a cause: Navigational error
• Prestige - 77,000 t fuel oil, 270 km before the coast of Galicien, 13 November 2002

Further with larger oil pollutions

• On 25 October 1998 the wood freighter Pallas before the island Amrum runs due to and provides for the heaviest oil pollution of the German North Sea Coast.
• On 24 December 2004 a cargo ship before the coast of Alaska, over one million litre oil sinks withdraws.

See also

• Oil mark theorem

Related links

• www.bessereweltlinks.de - link collection
• www.lernarchiv.bildung.hessen.de - on-line learning archives oil pollution
• spiegel.de - and the catastrophic consequences
• emergency.management.net - with oiling anchors - a listing
• www.nabu.de - NABU: "Prestige fall demands 230,000 bird lives"

Articles in category "Oil pollution"

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