In 2010, there was a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that pumped over 3.1 million barrels worth of oil into the ocean. In present day, hundreds of dolphins are still being washed up onto shore, dead. These high death rates renewed many scientists' interest in the issue. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a statement earlier this week discussing how the oil spill itself may not have "outright poisoned" the animals but may have over time affected their health. Swimming through the oil weakens the dolphins, specifically their lungs. Scientists are doing everything they can to get the death rates to stop rising.
This article caught my eye because of the graphic pictures of the dolphins. It's very upsetting that such a huge disaster, that happened almost 6 years ago, is still proving to have consequences even to this day. In history, disasters like oil spills have happened before, but it seems none have been this harmful. Although the spill was obviously an accident, people still need to take away the lessen that we have to protect our oceans and the organisms that live in it.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/23/us/deepwater-horizon-dolphin-sickness-deaths/index.html
I think it's sad how animals have to live through the consequence of a human action. Technology has been advancing so hopefully we can invent something that'll better the lives of marine animals on how to rid oil and debris from water, for example.
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