Can You Get an Oil Spill Clean by Going Green?

Can You Get An Oil Spill Clean By Going Green?

Wildlife is a term to describe animals that are not domesticated, which means they are not normally raised by humans. They are living resources that will die and replace themselves with their own kind. Individual animals cannot be kept beyond their lifespan, but if wildlife is managed properly they can go on to live forever. Some wildlife can become extinct due to massive populations being killed off by the harmful effects of irresponsible human behavior and the toxic effects of environmental catastrophes. According to the Wikipedia article on the Deep Horizon Oil Spill, on April 20, 2010, the second largest accidental oil spill in history took place. Some call it the BP (Beyond Petroleum) Oil Spill/Disaster, the Macondo Blowout, or the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, however no matter what you call it; it all means the same thing. The spill came from a sea floor oil gusher that resulted from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig that was drilled by BP in the Macondo Prospect Oil Field, about forty miles southeast of the Louisiana coast. According to Tangley (2010), of the National Wildlife Federation, "The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries."

I really love animals and I remember being out with my mom at the store getting dish soap and I wanted to get the blue Dawn detergent because it had the pretty baby ducks on the front. I remember asking why there are ducks on the bottle and my mother explained to me about the oil spill and that people used Dawn detergent to clean the animals off after an oil spill. So I learned that every time someone buys Dawn dish detergent money is raised and goes to helping wildlife. It sounded really interesting to do a project on, but first I had to find out what exactly and oil spill was because I wasn't too sure if I wanted to put oil on animals or even how I could make a project out of this without harming any animals. According to the Wikipedia definition of an "Oil Spill", "an oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution." It also says that, "The term is usually applied to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products(such as gasoline and diesel) and their by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil." From the article Lingering Lesson's from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (2004) they say that, "spilt oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up." The Center for Biological Diversity conducted a study that shows that more than 82,000 birds; about 6,000 sea turtles; nearly 26,000 marine mammals, including dolphins; and an unknown, massive number of fish and invertebrates may have been harmed by the spill and its aftermath. The spill oiled more than 1,000 miles of shoreline and more than 2 million gallons of toxic dispersants were sprayed into the Gulf, which may be making waters more toxic for species and wildlife. Viegas (2010), states in her article "For Oiled Wildlife, Dawn Cleans Best", that, "Years of trial and error have determined that Dawn dishwashing detergent is the preferred cleanser." She goes on to say that, so far, "2,000 bottles of Dawn have been shipped to Gulf cleanup effort sites. Machines that wash oiled animals have been available for at least a decade. Manufactures claim they cut clean up time by half, reducing a 35-45 minute manual washing to just 20 minutes. The speed, however, may come at a cost. It may sound like an ad jingle, but experience has shown that the is soap is better and safer than other methods, such as using stronger cleansers or "bird washing machines" according to animal rescue specialists who are involved in the Gulf spill recovery effort."

After doing some research, and asking plenty of questions, my science