FOLIO LINE
THE DEPTH
OF DAMAGE
Scientists are uncertain about the final outcome
of the oil spill, but they do know that oil upsets
the natural balance of the ocean from its
glistening surface to the dark depths.
Graphic by Cindy Jones-Hulfachor/Sun Sentinel
Images not to scale
THE
OCEAN’S
SURFACE
Surface oil greatly
impacts surface feeders,
larvae and juvenile fish
and contaminates the
shoreline and marsh.
THE
FOOD
CHAIN
Phytoplankton and
algae are at the base
of the food chain. Oil
that contaminates
the base passes up
the food chain to
larger prey.
Plankton, microscopic
animals and plants are
vulnerable on the water’s
surface and deep into the
Gulf. Present oil also is
harmful to marine larvae
released into plankton.
THE
VAST BLUE
Deep underwater clouds
of oil or dispersed oil will
take its toll on deepwater
marine life.
Marlin, snapper and
grouper are affected by
oil deep in the ocean as
they swim down hundreds
of feet.
LEATHERBACK
TURTLE
SPERM
WHALE
THE
OCEAN
FLOOR
SAND
SEATROUT
DEEP-SEA
CORAL
Whale sharks are
at risk because they
are surface feeders,
sucking plankton,
fish eggs and small fish.
Oil kills gulf algae
which is a floating
habitat for 145 types of
invertebrates, 100 fish, 5
sea turtles and 19
seabirds, from the Gulf
to the Atlantic Ocean.
HUMPBACK
WHALE
Bluefin tuna breed
only in the Gulf and in
the Mediterranean.
It is possible that their
numbers may not
recover.
BLUE
MARLIN
RED
SNAPPER
OCEANIC
WHITETIP
SHARK
Oil near and on the
sea floor will threaten
deep-sea marine life:
deep-sea corals,
jellyfish, Atlantic
croaker, sand seatrout
and sand perch.
JELLYFISH
FOLIO LINE M c C l a t c h y - Tr i b u n e
COASTAL WATER
Shorelines and marsh are fragile
habitats and important spawning
grounds. Oil would smother life.
Sea turtles
Officials plan to relocate 70,000 eggs
from nests to Florida’s east coast. Five
endangered species are in the Gulf.
LOGGERHEAD
TURTLE
ROSEATE
SPOONBILL
Blue crabs lay
eggs in coastal
areas now
covered in oil.
BROWN
PELICAN
Oiled shellfish taste Oysters are now dying Oiled mangrove roots Seabirds with oil-soaked
bad to prey, impacting from oil. Those that do damage shelter-providing feathers may get hypo-
food in the food chain. live may store toxins in trees and feeding grounds thermia and risk drowning.
their shells as they grow. for birds and juvenile fish. Predators target birds that
can’t fly. Only a fraction of
birds will survive cleaning.
Oil hampers the
diffusion of air into
water, breaking Dolphins collect oil when
the cycle of replenishing they surface, which can
the ocean’s oxygen. affect their eyesight.
Killer oil clouds
are lethal to
fragile coral reefs.
Oil balls clog whales’
baleen, which filters
plankton and krill. OIL DANGERS
FACTORS IN Makeup of oil Length of Type of Age of Food supply
AN OIL SPILL or dispersant exposure exposure marine life contamination
EFFECTS ON FISH Oil or dispersants ▲ Ingested ● Inhaled ■ Contact
AND MARINE LIFE
■ Burns to the ■ Fin ▲ ● ■ Toxins collect ■ Larvae and fish
eyes, possible erosion in tissue poisoning eggs are vulnerable
blindness larger marine life in to oil. Oil can be
the food chain. absorbed through
the eggshell.
■ Scales or
skin lesions
BLUEFIN TUNA
lead to
infection
Leatherback ▲ Damage to intestinal
turtles and tract, ulcers, bleeding
▲ Clogged gills
sperm whales and diarrhea, inability
▲ Kidney damage
dive to to absorb food.
3,200-foot depths.
▲ Burns ▲ Heart, ▲ Enlarged livers
Oil plumes in the
in mouth respiratory rate
depths may be
oxygen depleted
● Inflammation, pneumonia LONG-TERM EFFECTS Reproduction may
with toxic oil and be affected in surviving
and emphysema
methane. Loss of body weight
animals. Spawning fish
from reduced food supply
and marine life require
Dehydration from certain conditions to
animals refusing to drink lay eggs or offspring.
WILDLIFE COLLECTED
An accumulation of Collected in impacted
areas: Alabama,
Type of Collected Collected Total Percent
dead marine life, animal alive dead collected released
waste and oil may Florida, Louisiana,
Birds 975 1,505 2,490 42.1%
cause an expansion Mississippi, Texas
Sea turtles 157 447 604 1.9%
of oxygen-starved and on the Gulf
Mammals 5 54 59 20%
areas known as dead of Mexico.*
zones and block the
For information, go to www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com and look under
release of rich
Current Ops, Fish and Wildlife Report
nutrients into the
water column, key * Figures as of July 7
to the food chain.
Bacteria on the SOURCES: “What the spill will kill,” by Sharon Begley, Newsweek;
ocean’s floor uses “Researchers predict larger-than-average Gulf dead zone,” University
oxygen as it decom- of Michigan; Deepwater Horizon Response Consolidated Fish and
poses material. This Wildlife Collection Report; Australian Maritime Safety Authority; Global
adds to oxygen Marine Oil Pollution, Information Gateway; NOAA; ITOPF; AP; news
depletion. reports
OIL SPILL MARINE LIFE
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE