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