When an oil spill is large, the effects are visibly devastating. Animals perish, ocean life falters, vegetation dies, and even sediment can be affected. All of these effects were clearly evident by the recent enormous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. When that unfortunate event occurred, many restoration organizations and scientists worked together to ensure that there was an emergency cleanup response as soon as possible, and BP paid $28 billion for its mistakes. Today, that area of the ocean and the land around it are still gradually coming back together. In her article “How a 672,000-Gallon Oil Spill Was Nearly Invisible,” Christina Caron compares the BP oil spill to what she calls an “invisible” one that occurred this month. Although the 16,000 barrels of oil is almost nothing compared to the four million barrels spilled in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, 672,000 gallons sounds like it should be responded with alarm and some sizable cleanup attempt. However, this is untrue as scientists are stating that this spill does not have a significant impact on the environment. They credit this not to the vast size of the ocean and its ability to swiftly move on, but to the microbes that feast on the products of these oil spills (Caron, 2017). When an oil spill occurs, there are bacteria in the ocean that eat these hydrocarbons; this allows them to exponentially grow, and thus feast more. This is why this oil spill was very close to being “invisible:” the microbes got to it very quickly. In fact, scientists at the University of Texas found that previously in 2010 during the BP oil spill, these bacteria not only ate the oil, but also the chemicals used to cleanup (University of Texas, 2016).

     Scientists are now carrying out research to see how they can prepare for the next oil spill using this information about microbes to their advantage. In fact, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have even come up with an exemplary combination of enzymes that can accelerate the rate at which these microbes eat at the oil (McCaffrey, 2015). While these scientists are ready to combat the effects of the next oil spill, it is of course, ultimately up to the government and these large oil companies to prevent large spills from occurring in the first place. While this one was “invisible,” 1.9 million gallons of oil are spilled in U.S. oceans every year, interrupting ecosystems, endangering animals, and even affecting the industries in coastal cities. While Caron’s article and the MIT researchers focus on the cleanup and the response to future oil spills, there has been silence legislatively, about any methods of prevention. The pipes continue to wear and crack, with no set regulations to rebuild them. While this spill was “nearly invisible,” as more and more “invisible” oil spills are disregarded and not given much attention, the chances of addressing the preventative perspective of this environmental issue lessens.

Works Cited:

Caron, C. (2017, October 29). How a 672,000-Gallon Oil Spill Was Nearly Invisible. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/science/gulf-oil-spill-louisiana.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate

Genetic Potential of Oil-Eating Bacteria from the BP Oil Spill Decoded. (2016, May 10). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://news.utexas.edu/2016/05/09/potential-of-oil-eating-bacteria-from-bp-oil-spill-decoded

McCaffrey, F. (2015, October 19). Using microbes to clean up oil spills. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from http://news.mit.edu/2015/using-microbes-clean-oil-spills