Series: Oil Spills

For the next few posts, I will be talking about subjects that I have become familiar with in my job: Oil Spills. Where they go, what happens to the ecosystem, the science behind response and response equipment, etcetera.

Keep in mind throughout the series that all the elements of oil spills are complex and variable; like fingerprints, no two oil spills are alike, even if they are in the exact same location. As I write and publish each of these posts, I will update this post with links to the posts that are part of the series. As an introduction, here are some pictures:

"This is a radar image of an offshore drilling field about 150 km (93 miles) west of Bombay, India, in the Arabian Sea. The dark streaks are extensive oil slicks surrounding many of the drilling platforms, which appear as bright white spots."

 Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar//oilsk.html

The EXXON VALDEZ and the oil spill caused by the vessel's collision with Bligh Reef in1989.

Clean-up during the Exxon Valdez spill...this technique was not always better then leaving the oil in place, which I will address when I post about mechanical clean-up techniques.

This is a sattelite image of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, taken days after the intial oil-rig explosion in April, 2010. This turned into the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Photo from The Global Herald

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