What organisms were mainly affected during the Exxon Valdez oil spill?

What organisms were mainly affected during the Exxon Valdez oil spill?

Despite these cleanup efforts, the spill exterminated much native wildlife, including salmon, herring, sea otters, bald eagles, and killer whales. Workers steaming blast rocks covered in crude oil leaking from the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker that ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, U.S.

What were the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill?

The Exxon Valdez disaster dramatically changed all of that, taking a major toll on wildlife. It killed an estimated 250,000 sea birds, 3,000 otters, 300 seals, 250 bald eagles and 22 killer whales.

Where did the company fail to maintain safety in the Exxon Valdez tanker?

Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly maintain the Raytheon Collision Avoidance System (RAYCAS) radar, which, if functional, would have indicated to the third mate an impending collision with the Bligh Reef by detecting the radar reflector placed on the next rock inland from Bligh Reef for the purpose of keeping …

How long did the Exxon Valdez cleanup take?

around three years
The entire course of the clean-up operation took around three years from 1989 to 1992 and even now, monitoring is being carried out in the entire length of the coastline to observe any late-emerging effects of the oil spill.

Does oil spill damage last forever?

Once an oil spill has been deemed “cleaned”, it’s not surprising that there are a number of long-term effects on the environment and nearby ecosystems. In 2003, Scientific American found that Alaskan beaches could take 30 years to fully recover from the oil spill that has been considered “cleaned” for over two decades.

What will be the impact of these environmental problems in people’s health?

Environmental hazards increase the risk of cancer, heart disease, asthma, and many other illnesses. These hazards can be physical, such as pollution, toxic chemicals, and food contaminants, or they can be social, such as dangerous work, poor housing conditions, urban sprawl, and poverty.