The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is mainly known as The BP Oil Spill and various of others for different reasons. One reason that I learned is because it occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP operated Macondo Prospect. According to the video that we watched in class, eleven people died and seventeen were injured because of the oil spill. It was a massive, month long spill that affected beaches, wetlands, and estuaries. Extensive damage was done to wildlife habitats, fishing, and tourism. Oil cleanup crews attempted to remove the oily material from the beaches, shorelines, and waters overall. After a while, the oil had become embedded into the sand.
Because of the spill, it was also reported that marine life, such as dolphins were dying at a very uncontrollable and irregular rate. The effect of the oil spill caused animal’s lives to be shortened. The spill had a strong economic impact. People couldn’t give tours, and people couldn’t come receive tours in the locations that were deeply affected. A lot of money was lost during this time also through the fishing industry. The spill affected and killed countless species such as fish, birds, sea turtles, and marine animals. The chemicals that were linked to the oil spill also created health risks to not just only marine life but humans as well.
The BP Oil Spill was the worst marine oil spill documented in U.S. History. Cleaning up this oil leak was very difficult and time consuming. Crude surface oil initially mainly only harmed seabirds. Even a little bit of oil on their feather affected their ability to fly, swim, or find food which for them meant diving. Eventually, as time continued to pass by, seafood consumption also became a topic of discussion and also a worry to citizens. It had gained quite a bit of attention are people began to be extremely concerned about getting sick or catching a disease, virus, etc. Unbelievably, the BP Oil Spill was not always revealed to the public as it is today.
At that time, the full extent of the issue wasn’t known to the citizens. There was a huge cover up between the media and the public, which kept them from knowing. The public was not aware of how much oil was really spilled into the gulf. They made it seem less destructive than it truly was. The BP’s main problem was dishonesty. They lied about how safe it was instead of elaborating on how hazardous it was. There were massive die offs, and terrible damage to gulf wildlife.
When this oil spill originally occurred, I was fourteen years old and was not into the news, politics, animals, or anything of the sort. But now that I am much older, I have more opinions formed about discussions like these. First off, I despise the fact the government and media try to keep the American people out of issues like these as if we do not have a right to know. This is obviously not fair, but it’s much more than that. We need to be aware of what we consume, where we go fishing, etc. How can we do that if we have no idea of what is going on? I can admit that we eventually were told about what was occurring but still then was lied to about the entire truth.
The government tried to make it seem not as harmful as it honestly was. Once you lie about something like that, how can we trust you? We can’t. You begin to lose our trust significantly. We need the big picture of what’s really going on so that we can be more cautious and alert about our surroundings. Sugarcoating doesn’t get us anywhere. And if I am not mistake, something similar happened like this where the government was withholding facts, evidence, and things of that nature, and that was during Katrina, also 9/11.
What was done, was done. The oil spill occurred and as humans, we were upset because it affected food, a way of attaining our resources, and most importantly, a way of life. The government failed to realize that some people’s income is based off the sea. Not everyone uses it as a recreational use but to pay their bills as well. The government should be more sensitive to issues and concerns like that, or things could very much well get out of hand. I can imagine why many people would be so upset at the time. There were severe health risks that people were completely unaware of, thanks to the government.