Environmental Science

Pola Benchimol Levy

The Deep-water Horizon Oil Spill and its effect on the Kemps
Ridley Sea Turtle

April 22nd 2015

The Deep-water Horizon oil spill
The Deep-water Horizon was a semi-submersible, floating and mobile oil-drilling
rig owned by Transocean that could operate in deep waters, reaching up to ten
thousand feet in depth.

On February the fifteenth, the Deep-water Horizon drilling rig began in the
Macondo Prospect, oil and gas prospect located on the Mississippi Canyon
block, offshore Louisiana. According to plan, the well was to conduct the drilling
up to eighteen thousand feet below sea level, and was to be suspended for
completion as a subsea producer.

When conducting drilling operations a centralizer is a key piece of the process

since it aids in the efficient placement of cement that not only seals and thus
protects the wellbore, but also permanently shuts off water penetration into the
well. Although its importance is evident, two months later on April the fifteenth, a
BP drilling engineer called Bryan Morel stated that only six centralizers would be
used instead of the recommended number of twenty-one, with the means of
reducing time and cost.

A few days later (April the twentieth), the company cancels a recommended
cement bond log test to revise the proper cement placement that prevents fluid
from leaking to the surface. Consequently, BP saved an approximate of twelve

hours and one hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars. However, the night of
this day was surprised with a rig shaking shock caused by the lack of cement
between the production and protection. Because of this, the rise of oil, methane
gas and concrete up to the wellbore was generated, causing the ignition of these
that derived in an explosion onto the deck where the complex caught fire. As a
result, eleven deaths where caused, seventeen workers were injured and ninetyeight others survived.

Environmental effect of an oil spill

The potential effect an oil spill can have over the environment depends on
various factors that include the predominant weather conditions since they
influence the behavior and physical characteristics of the oil itself, the interaction
of the oil with the marine environment and the type and quantity of the oil spilled.
Additionally, factors such as the ecological and biological attributes the area
affected by the spill might have, the time of year the event occurs, the ecological
function of species living in the area afflicted, their sensitivity towards the
pollution of oil and the cleanup techniques applied also contribute to the potential
effect of these type of event.

More concretely, an environment is impacted by an oil spill through four major

means, which include chemical toxicity attributed to lighter chemical components
that are absorbed by organs of animals that live in the area affected, such as
cells and tissues, causing sub-lethal or even lethal toxic consequences;

ecological changes caused by the loss of organisms with specific functions in an

ecological community that if replaced by total different organisms that do not
perform similar activities, may alter the ecosystem dynamics. The physical
smothering of organisms is also a means that is caused by high viscosity oils that
smother and affect an organisms ability to perform its basic functions like
thermoregulation, eating and breathing. Finally, the fourth mean are the indirect
effects such as the loss of habitat caused by drilling and consequently clean-up
operations.

The Deep-water Horizon spill effect on the environment

The event is known as the largest spill in the United States history because of the
800 million liters of oil that were spilled over the Gulf of Mexico, added to the 7
million liters of chemical dispersants used to clear it. Due to the amount of oil
spread, the environment was critically affected. National parks such as the Delta
National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana that was recovering from an earlier oil spill
before the Deep-water Horizon event, the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge in
Mississippi that is home to one of the biggest wet pines currently endangered as
an ecosystem and the Mississippi Sandhill crane National Wildlife Refuge also in
Missippi that is home to the Cranes habitat, also currently endangered.

The areas affected include a diversity of environments that include wetlands,

beaches and the deep ocean. Organisms known as tidal, estuarine and pelagic
like sea turtles, dolphins and birds were seriously impacted by the event.

The oil spilled also affected the food chain since it entered it through
zooplankton, scientifically known as the base of many marine food chains, and
originated toxic effects to animals that consume it, consequently causing
difficulties when continuing with their functions.
Because of what is explained above, the oil spill did not only pollute the water
and the coastal areas, but it interrupted the ecosystems balance since it
displaced many species of plants and animals.

The spills effect on marine species

Marine species were the most affected species by the oil spill with numbers
revealing two thousand and three oiled dead, sea turtles, birds and dolphins
according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Also, according to
researchers from the University of New Hampshire a year after the spill (2011), a
total of thirty-nine species were threatened.

Toxins like propane and ethane released by the oil spill were trapped in the deep
water causing the death of fish because of cardiac arrest. Added to this problem,
the chemical dispersants known to cause mutations, used in the clearing of the
oil caused physical deformities in fish, shrimp and dolphins such as the lack of
eyes, lesions and oozing sored. Note that before the oil spill only 0.1% of marine
species had suffered physical abnormalities.

Another aspect that negatively affected marine wildlife was the levels of methane
released in the spill event. The oceanographer John Kessler, a professor of Earth
and Environmental Sciences in the University of Rochester, calculated that the oil
released in the spill was 40% methane (an extremely large quantity when
compared to the 5% found in typical deposits.) The problem relies in the fact that
this green house gas has the potential to asphyxiate marine species and create a
dead zone were there is a low level of oxygen and no reproduction of species
than can ultimately produce a type of biological dessert.

The Deep-water Horizon spill effect on Sea turtles

Five species of sea turtles known as the Leatherback, Hawksbill, Loggerhead,
Green and the Kemps Ridley turtles live in the Gulf and were critically affected
by the spill. Every stage of their life cycle, starting from the egg period until
adulthood was affected and due to the fact these specie take decades to sexually
mature, and their ability to reproduce is delayed for that same time. For this
reason, the impact of the event could possibly last decades.

Half a year after the spill one thousand sixty-six sea turtles were found in the
area affected by the event and of these more than four hundred and fifty showed
oiling signs in their body.

Sea turtles are at a greater risk when compared to other marine species because
studies have revealed that they do not avoid oil slicks as an instinct and that

causes them to be more prone to oil pollution and toxicity. Another concerning
fact is that this specie may mistake tar balls for food and sometimes directly
consume the oil, causing health problems and lethal consequences such as
irritation of the skin, pneumonia, bleeding, ulcers, degradation of their immune
system and most concerning of all, failure in reproduction.

Sea turtle hatchlings are also seriously affected by the spill since they entail a
series of processes when they are born. Fist, they are born on beaches covered
by oil and as a consequence can suffer exposure to it. Also, the newly born
turtles need to find refugee, specifically in Sargassum (a type of seaweed) and
since it is covered by oil, their habitat in the open ocean is put at risk causing
them to front the ocean and consequently interact directly with the oil spilled.

Finally, environments such as the mats of Sargassum seaweed, the sea grass
beds and coral reefs that were contaminated by oil as well as the decrease of
Prairies and invertebrate populations reduce the species available food supply
and therefore menace their survival.
Effect on Kemp Ridley sea turtles
Being the greater endangered and smallest sea turtle in the world as well as a
member of the Endangered Species Act since 1973, Kemps Ridley turtles were
the most affected by the event. Of the total average of six hundred turtles that

were found dead due to the spill, five hundred of them were Kemps Ridley sea
turtles.
These turtles have a nesting procession called arribadas that consists of
females taking over large portions of beaches while carrying their bodies through
the sand until discovering a spot to lay their eggs. These take place in the
Rancho Nuevo area in Tamaulipas, Mexico just near the south border of Texas
with the Gulf of Mexico. Also, its occasionally produced in other parts of Mexico,
Texas, Alabama and Florida.

Recent studies have shown that in the United States, the female Kemps turtles
that nest their eggs along the Texan coast usually migrate east towards
Louisianas coast, specifically into the delta (landform that forms at the mouth of
a river) of the Mississippi River where they can find sufficient food to feed
themselves for months. When they arrive to this location they opportunistically
consume aliment and take advantage of any food source available such as
crabs, snails, jellyfish, and fish.

The nesting of the endangered turtles increases exponentially, releasing a

positive sign for the specie. However, the nesting season in the year two
thousand and ten started just before the Deep-water Horizon oil spill.

When the spill occurred, the petroleum affected the females during their
migrations towards the beaches that could have possibly already been

contaminated for the time these approached the area. Also, the oil spilled
reached the beaches where the eggs were previously deposited. Of having
spawned successfully, a few weeks later the newly born turtles that typically swim
to the shore swam towards the oil slicks.
F
ig
ur
e
1:

Marked in purple and red are the major nesting beaches in the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico, and the
proportion of the number of nesting documented for each beach in 2007 (Source: J. Pea, GPZ), and place
where the nesting occurred. (Source: Father Island National Seashore, Florida Marine Research Institute,
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, FWS, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission)

Added to many concerns is the matter referring to the case that sea turtles,
including the Kemps Ridley, are near the top of the animal food chain and is
consequently an indicator for the potential effects the Deep-water Horizon spill
can have on the rest of the marine ecosystem whose habitat is found in the area
affected.

The consequences of the oil spill will impact the Kemps Ridley turtles for
decades and will continue to threaten the marine environment.
Conclusion
The Deep-water Horizon oil spill was an environmental disaster known as the
biggest spill in the countrys history that threatened the ecosystem in various
ways.
BP, who owned the drilling rig was irresponsible and due to that, threatened
many species such as dolphins, birds and most importantly sea turtles,
specifically the Kemps Ridley turtles that have been endangered for more than
forty years.
This type of sea turtle takes a long time to mature and their reproduction is very
slow. For that reason, the oil spilled affected them the most. Due to the amount of
oil released, the Kemps turtles were impaired during their nesting season and
consequently their reproduction was jeopardized. Note that the growth of this
specie is essential for their future as members of the marine ecosystem and the
balance of it.
The preservation of Kemps Ridley turtles is necessary for our environment and
in order to help these sea turtles overcome the damages imposed by the oil spill
we must inform people about sea turtles and all the environmental obstacles they
constantly face. Additionally, we must encourage members of all communities to
support nonprofit organizations like WorldWildlife.org and Nature.org that work
to preserve this specie. The groups support actions and laws that protect sea
turtles and the beaches were they nest, both nationally and internationally.

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