Biology and History

After the cement failed to maintain pressure and proper conditions in the well, there was an explosion on British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon Oil facility, causing 11 deaths and leading to an oil gusher that propelled the most detrimental oil spill in the history of the world (Kunzelman, 2010). Approximately five million barrels of oil were spilled in the 87 days that it took technicians to seal the well (Robertson 2010). The ecosystem was heavily damaged, because a large part of the marine life was unable to survive, which brought about very serious repercussions to the fishing industries (Reuters 2010). Tourism in the area also took a blow from the incident. British Petroleum had to pay insurmountable fines because of its inability to keep the site in good repair (Reuters 2010).

(Brady 2012)

Today, a couple of years after this catastrophe most of the oil has been cleaned up or evaporated, however scientists report there is still some oil in the Gulf’s seafloor (Fox News 2012). The tourism industry has not recovered yet, and in 2013 it still gains $153 million less than before the disaster. Fishermen are also struggling to return to the harvest levels they had before the spill (Fox News 2012). While BP has paid $22 billion to cover for the losses of this tragedy (Fox News 2012).




Works Cited:

Brady, J. (2012) As Workers Age, Oil Industry Braces For Skills Gap. NPR. (Date Accessed: February 18, 2012) www.npr.org

Fox News Associated Press. (2012) 2 Years Later: What’’s Latest on the Gulf Oil Spill. Fox News. (Date Accessed: February 13, 2013.) www.foxnews.com

Kunzelman, M. (2012) Gulf Oil Rig Explosion Preceded by Days of Worries, Arguments, and Still-Unanswered Questions. Fox News. (Date Accessed: February 12, 2013.) www.foxnews.com


Reuters. (2010) Factbox: Gulf Oil Spill Impacts Fisheries, Wildlife, Tourism. Reuters. (Date Accessed: February 13, 2013.) www.reuters.com

Robertson, C. 2010. US Puts Oil Spill at Nearly 5 Million Barrels. The New York Times. (Date Accessed: February 12, 2013.) www.nytimes.com

BP Oil Spill and its Effects on Shrimp

Works cited:

Dequine, K. (2010) Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog Grand Isle Rally for Truth. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog. (Date Accessed: February 14, 2013) www.gulfofmexicooilspillblog.com

Kistner, R. (2012) BP Sees a Return to Grandeur as Gulf Fishermen Reel From Disaster. Switchboard. (Date Accessed: February 20, 2013) switchboard.nrdc.org

Laumer, J. (2010) Gulf Oysters & Wild Shrimp Leaving US Menus Fast - Other Seafood Not So Much. Treehugger. (Date Accessed: February 20, 2013) www.treehugger.com

Madsen, P. A. (2013) Frequently Asked Questions. Omega-3 Institute of Preventive Medicine. (Date Accessed: February 20, 2013) www.omega3md.com

McLendon R. (2012) BP to pay historic penalty for 2010 oil spill. Mother Nature Network. (Date Accessed: February 20, 2013) www.mnn.com

Wikispaces. (2013) Oil spill clean up on beaches. Dirty Water. (Date Accessed: February 20, 2013) environmental7.wikispaces.com

Fishermen Perspective

The fishermen all agree that they are all affected by the spill and and have subsequently felt major losses (Burdeau 2012). Seafood crops of all sorts have hit absolute rock bottom in some places while others are still making good money (Burdeau 2012). Those who were making money were making money because the demand for seafood was so high; people were willing to pay crazy prices (Burdeau 2012). Thankfully they did not have to haul as much as before in order to make ends meet. During the fishing season the total amount of seafood caught combined did not even reach half of the amount hauled in the past few years (Burdeau 2012). As Ken Lee, a shrimp dock owner said, “the oil spill has ruined us, we’re hardly unloading any brown shrimp at all” (Burdeau 2012).(Alexander-Bloch 2012)

Works cited:

Alexander-Bloch, B. (2012) Long Term Effects of Gulf Oil Spill in Shrimp, Other Species Still Unknown. NOLA. The Times-Picayune. (Date accessed: February 13, 2013.) www.nola.com/

Burdeau, C. (2012) Fishing Industry Still Reeling From Effects of 2010 BP Oil Spill. Denver Post.    
Associated Press. (Date accessed: February 9, 2013.) www.denverpost.com/

BP's Perspective

BP believed that the effect of the oil spill on wildlife has since been neutralized (BP 2013).  The $22 million donated by BP funded wildlife projects and conservation programs that help to protect the species in the gulf (BP 2013).  Data taken by BP surveys in 2011 showed that effects on species were less than those initially anticipated. (BP 2013)  21 settlements against BP in the US court were made as a result of the spill (deepwater horizon 2013).  BP also set up a $20 billion fund to compensate the victims of the spill (wikipedia 2013).  Their fines totaled a record-breaking $4.525 billion from legal settlements, and the total amount of money paid in penalties has reached $90 billion (wikipedia 2013).

                                                    (Jones 2013)

Works Cited:

BP Global. (2011) National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Projects. British Petroleum. (Date accessed: February 18, 2013) www.bp.com/

Jones, D. (2013) John Minge Takes Over as President of BP America. gCaptain. (Date accessed: February 18, 2013) gcaptain.com

Zeller, Tom. (2012) BP Oil Spill Settlement Announced, Robert Kaluza And Donald Vidrine Charged With Manslaughter. Huff Post. Huffington Post. (Date accessed: February 18, 2013) www.huffingtonpost.com/

Consumer/Buyer Perspective

(Zurieck 2010)

The massive BP oil spill has raised the concerns of many consumers and restaurant owners who purchase their seafood from the Gulf.  Tommy Cvitanovich, the owner of Drago's, a thriving seafood restaurant in Louisiana, fears for the worst that the oil spill may bring (Chen 2010).  Potential dangers included a shortage of seafood and spikes in the prices, which would have sent Louisiana's seafood industry into economic turmoil (Chen 2010) .  However, there were suspicions raised by the consumers that began to take a toll upon the restaurant owners. In a situation similar to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many consumers refused to buy seafood due to misperceptions that it may have been contaminated (Guarino 2010).  Some seafood restaurant owners stopped buying their seafood from the Gulf, because their customers were inquiring on the origins of their fish (Guarino 2010).  The consumers’ doubt of the quality of the seafood from the Gulf may wreak massive economic havoc upon the innocent business owners who had bought seafood from the Gulf for many years.

Works Cited:

Chen, S. (2010) Does the Oil Spill Put the Seafood Restaurants at Risk? CNN News. (Date Accessed: February 12, 2013.) www.cnn.com

Zurieck, E. (2010) Augusta restaurateurs brace for oil spill impact. The Augusta Chronicle. (Date Accessed: February 18, 2013) www.chronicle.augusta.com

Environmentalist Perspective

Shrimp have been mutated and killed by the oil spill. Many shrimp have been found without eyes and eye sockets, and with tumors on them (Jamail 2012). Scientists have maintained that they are still safe to eat (Robertson 2011), however, the number of shrimp in the gulf has also greatly fallen (Jamail 2012). A seafood processor in Mississippi said that he had seen “the brown shrimp catch drop by two-thirds, and so far the white shrimp have been wiped out," (Jamail 2012) showing the extremely detrimental impact of the oil spill on the shrimp in the gulf. To try to clean up the oil spill, BP used tons of Corexit, a toxic solvent, which contributed to the harmful effects on the shrimp in the gulf (Jamail 2012). Environmentalists used the oil spill and its adverse effects on shrimp and other sea creatures in the gulf to fight against deepwater drilling. New regulations were created by the United States, but deepwater drilling continues in the gulf and shows no signs of stopping (Johnson 2011).

(Dequine 2010)


Works cited:

Dequine, K. (2010) Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog Grand Isle Rally for Truth. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog. (Date Accessed: February 14, 2013) www.gulfofmexicooilspillblog.com

Jamail, D. (2012) Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists. Aljazeera. (Date Accessed: February 10, 2013.) www.aljazeera.com

Johnson, T. (2011) U.S. Deepwater Drilling's Future. Council on Foreign Relations. (Date Accessed: February 10, 2013.) www.cfr.org

Robertson, C. (2011) Gulf Shrimp Are Scarce This Season; Answers, Too. The New York Times. (Date Accessed: February 10, 2013.) www.nytimes.com

Corexit 9500

In an effort to minimize the effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the response team called upon the company NALCO to provide them with Corexit 9500 (Nalco.com 2010).  Corexit 9500 is a dispersant which is used to break down the oil into smaller droplets so that they may be consumed by microorganisms (Nalco.com 2010).  According to the EPA analysis, “toxicity data does not indicate any significant effects on aquatic life (Nalco.com 2010). Moreover, decreased size of the oil droplets is a good indication that, so far, the dispersant is effective” (Nalco.com 2010).
(parisapartment.wordpress.com 2010)


Works cited:

Nalco.com. (2010) Seven Facts About COREXIT 9500 OIl Dispersant. Nalco. (Date Accessed: February 10, 2013) www.nalco.com

Parisapartment.wordpress.com. (2010) Life, interrupted. The Paris Apartment. (Date Accessed: February 18, 2013) parisapartment.wordpress.com

Relief Well

The new well, to be built in 5,000 ft of water, is planned to intercept the existing well at about 13,000 feet below the the sea bed (BP 2010). This will permanently seal the leaking part of the well. Drilling for this new well will take about three months. Once the relief well is completed BP workers will pump mud and cement into an opening to kill the blown- out Macondo for good (Reuters 2010).

               (Cavnar 2010)

Works cited:

BP (2010) Work Begins To Drill Relief Well To Stop Oil Spill. BP.  BP Global. (Date accessed: February 9, 2013.) http://www.bp.com/

Cavnar B. (2010) BP Relief Well Inching Closer. The Daily Hurricane. (Date accessed: February 18, 2013) dailyhurricane.com

Trott, B (2010) BP Relief Well Intercepts Ruptured Gulf Well. Reuters. (Date accessed: February 9, 2013.) http://www.reuters.com/

Nitrogen Reduction

(Oceanservice.noaa.gov 2010)

The government put forth a plan to reduce the nitrogen load in the Gulf of Mexico by 30% because excess nitrogen is the main cause of hypoxia (Arbor 2004). Hypoxia is when there is a deficiency in oxygen reaching important parts of organisms, and is caused by a lack of oxygen in the water the organisms live in (Arbor 2004). This section of water is called the Dead Zone (noaa.gov). "Hypoxia occurs when increased nitrogen runoff causes algae blooms, which sink into bottom waters and are decomposed by bacteria, a process that consumes oxygen" (Arbor 2004). The oil spill affects the dead zone in two ways. It partially prevents the normal mixing of oxygen in the atmosphere with the water, and the microbes that break down oil also consume oxygen (noaa.gov). This condition can kill the vast majority of the marine species in water with this lack of oxygen (Arbor 2004). Consequently, by reducing nitrogen, this plan combats hypoxia and establishes a more suitable living environment for the shrimp affected by the spill.



Works Cited:

Arbor, A. (2004) Goals Unlikely to Protect Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Industry. Science Daily. (Date Accessed: February 13, 2013.) www.sciencedaily.com

Noaa.gov. (2010) Links Between Gulf Hypoxia and the Oil Spill. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Date Accessed: February 19, 2013) noaa.gov

Oceanservice.noaa.gov. (2010) Nonpoint Source Pollution. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Date Accessed: February 19, 2013) oceanservice.noaa.gov

Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation

As an act of conservancy, in April, 2011,  the state of Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reopened commercial and recreational fishing areas previously closed as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (LADWF 2013).  Doing this prevents the possibility of overpopulation due to a lack of human fishing after the crisis and secures the equilibrium of the species that are regularly fished in those waters (LADWF 2013).

(Reich 2010)

Works Cited:

LDWF Announces More Fishing Openings (2011) Oil Spill. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: State of Louisiana. (Date Accessed: February 18, 2013) http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov

Reich, R. (2010) Why BP won't pay for full Gulf spill clean-up. The Christian Science Monitor. (Date Accessed: February 18, 2013) http://www.csmonitor.com

Shrimp Season Hampered by BP Oil Spill

                                             (Newslook 2010)

Works cited:

Newslook. (2010) Shrimp Season Hampered by BP Oil Spill. Newslook. (Date Accessed: February 20, 2013) www.newslook.com

Related Links

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7061778
This is BP’s explanation of their Relief Well.

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/category/news/oil-spill
This describes the fishing areas that are restricted following the spill.

http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle800.do?categoryId=9040059&contentId=7073205
This describes the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s conservancy efforts.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=186531
This talks about the health effects of the Oil Spill.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/18/eyeless-shrimp-and-mutant-fish-raise-concerns-over-bp-spill-effects/
Reactions to the discovery of the deformities of shrimp in the Gulf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U454HFEdRMQ
Youtube documentary that explains the events that led to the spill and the spill itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill
Broad overview of the Deepwater Oil Spill and BP’s efforts to fix it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/gulf-oil-spill-timeline_n_2139515.html
The lawsuit cases that have risen following the spill.

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/07/bp_oil_spill_dispersants_may_h.html
How the dispersants have affected the food chain in the Gulf.