environmental impacts

• immediate effects included the deaths of 100,000 to as many as 250,000 seabirds, at least 2,800 sea otters, approx 12 river seals, 300 harbour seals, 247 bald eagles and 22 orcas
• in 2003, 15 years after the spill, a team from the university of north carolina found that the remaining oil was lasting far longer than anticipated and this resulted in more long term long term loss for many species
• species as diverse as sea otters, harlequin ducks and killer whales suffered large long term losses and will take an estimated 30 years to recover
• lives of millions of fishes came to a standstill. some were killed by eating oil contaminated food, while others were starved to death because of the spoiling of plankton and larva on which they were dependent
• a thick layer of oil on the surface prevented fishes to come to the surface for food
• the fishing industry came to a complete standstill and many birds and animals were washed to shore, some dying and some already dead
• to this day, 21,000 gallons of crude oil still pollute the environment