Damage From Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Long-Lasting for Dolphins
February 17, 2021 MARTIN MACIAS JR
Researchers found the 2010 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico spewed petroleum that significantly damaged dolphins’ immune systems.
A study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has found long-term impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico on bottlenose dolphins’ immune function. (Courtesy of Todd Speakman)
(CN) — The immune systems of bottlenose dolphins in the northern Gulf of Mexico suffered long term damage following exposure to toxic oil spilled during the deadly Deepwater Horizon drilling explosion in 2010, according to a study released Wednesday.
British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank on April 20, 2010 in an oil field off the coast of Louisiana called the Macondo Prospect. The blowout-triggered release of oil into the ocean is considered the largest in history.
The explosion killed 11 workers and caused toxic gas and over 200 million gallons of crude oil to spill into the sea.
A conservation study published last year estimated that the blowout led to immense ecological damage and exposed nearby communities and wildlife to crude oil and the chemicals used to quell the blowout.
The populations of birds, whales, turtles and other wildlife in the Gulf plummeted in the years following the disaster, the report found, adding that 75% of pregnancies in the region’s dolphin population failed in the five years following the explosion.
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