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Union oil drilled at a drill site just over five miles from the coast of Santa Barbara. On January 28, 1969 it experienced a blowout which resulted with the seafloor cracked and 1,000 gallons released into the sea. A second blow eventually devastated the California coastline with destruction immense and visible. The most famous beaches of Santa Barbara were hit with the oil a few days after which made them all black. Marine life had been hit badly, reports said that corpses of marine life had washed up after the accident. Diving birds who depended on the waters for their nourishment were soaked by tar, and led to about 3686 birds dying because of contact with oil. This oil spill inspired people to join the environmental advocacy movement and eventually the signing of the National Environmental Policy Act and the first Earth Day.
Santa Barbara Oil Spill
Oil Disasters Examples
The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill holds the record for the largest oil spill in petroleum history. The seafloor oil gusher had a spill and destroyed the BP oil rig. This accident killed 11 men and spilled over 100 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. The damage was significant in marine life.The Center for Biological Diversity says 82000 birds, 25900 marine animals, ten thousands fish, and 6000 sea turtles were killed in the accident.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
This spill is known as the second largest oil spill in US waters after the BP Deepwater accident. In this accident, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground on the Prince William Sound Bligh’s Reef in Alaska. 10.9 million out of the 58 million gallons was moved to the coastline. The ecosystem had been impacted badly, killing over 200,000 birds, 2800 sea otters, 22 killer whales and more. The attempted cleanup had been ineffective and slow, so oil is still present in shores today despite chemical and mechanical efforts.