Remember 1989? The Exxon Valdez? Eleven million gallons of crude oil; the largest spill in U.S. history. Look at images from the Exxon Valdez Spill. If you teach school, here are some school resources.
Let's go back about 11 years to 1978. Remember the Amoco Cadiz? France, 1978? Light crude oil; 220,000 tons (65,000,000 gallons) of it. Revisit the Amoco Cadiz. Check out a review by the National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I didn't research the spills between '78 and '89 but you can be sure there were more than a few. Why am I so sure?
Well, let's jump ahead 9 years (from the Exxon Valdez spill) to 1998 and see if anyone learned any lessons from the earlier spills. Japan, Sept. 1998, A tanker carrying gas, oil and other fuel and a fishing boat collided off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. China, Nov., 1998, a spill threatens rare pink Hong Kong dolphins. Nigeria, Dec., 1998, thousands sick after oil spill. Also in late 1998, a spill in the Caspian Sea and another off Iran's Gulf Coast.
Then 1999 and 2000: an oil spill in an Alaskan wildlife refuge; a spill on the Danube River in Yugoslavia; a grounded freighter off Coos Bay, Oregon; both Adelaide and Australia; Brazil; Venezuela; Kenya; Lithuania; Turkish coast; Angolan coast; France; Ireland; Brazil; South Africa; Brazil again; Nigeria (Niger Delta); Greece; Singapore; Canada; Myanmar; France; Boston Harbor; Argentina; and New Orleans. You can read about all of these and dozens of related stories at Planet Ark and elsewhere on the web.
Now we've spilled right into 2001 with an oily start: Western Australia, Nigeria and now Ecuador--the spill at the Galapagos Islands. It's only January. Things can only go downhill for the rest of the year.
You'd think that after all these years and all the oil spills, the shipping industry would have made some progress in preventing spills at least through technology and training.
Don't hold your breath. Given the lengthy list of oil spills, it doesn't look like anything has been done, but you would have to conduct more research than I have time for to prove this. Research won't help wildlife at the Galapagos, however.
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