Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Miscellaneous Recovery following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Recovery following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Exxon Valdez and the Recovery of Prince William Sound Approximately eleven years ago, an area of Alaska's southern coast known as Prince William Sound was a disaster area. A nauseating scent of rotting carcasses and oil filtered through the air. Sea birds screamed in anguish as they fought to survive with oil drenched feathers. Under the surface billions of organisms ceased to live due to the toxicity of the inescapable wrath of the blackened water. Prince William Sound had once been a place of beauty and grace, now it was home to an environmental deathbed. The media broadcast pictures of this nearly unbearable scene throughout the world. Most people, including myself, wondered if the ecological war zone would ever recover from such a disaster. The death tolls from the oil spill are catastrophic. An estimated 2800 sea otters perished in the oil soaked death zone (Garrot, Eberhardt, Burn). Pink salmon, who normally made their runs up streams of crystal clear water, had a barrier of darkened water between the ocean and their spawning areas. Billions of salmon and herring eggs were destroyed in the oily water (6) Approximatley 250,000 sea birds lost their lives in Prince William Sound (Newsweek, p.50). According to Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles and 22 killer whales fell victim to the oil spill (6). It seemed as if every environmental aspect of the area, from the largest mammals to the smallest organisms, suffered then, and would continue to suffer some type of harm for many years to come. The cause of this incredible amount of environmental harm was an oil tanker known as the Exxon Valdez. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound; an accident that caused the greatest oil spill ever in America. 11 million gallons of oil flowed out of the tanker coating 1300 miles of shoreline along the coast of southern Alaska (Newsweek, p.50). Massive cleanup efforts were initiated within a few weeks of the spill and they continued at reduced levels for the next three years. Approximately 14% of the spilled oil was recovered by cleanup crews (Newsweek, p.50). As a result of these efforts and natural weathering, little oil from the spill remained in the affected area by 1992. However, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration some oil residues are still found under the ocean surface in areas sheltered from wind and waves. Yet, these residues are highly weathered and the toxicity is reduced to levels tolerable by organisms in the water (7). Nonetheless, the magnitude and timing of the Exxon Valdez oil spill raised immediate concerns about possible effects on marine fish and wildlife and prospects that these effects might be long lasting. Professors John Wiens and David Page spent many years studying theses effects of the oil spill and they presented their findings at the International Oil Spill Conference in Seattle, March 8-11, 1999. Their findings contain the most recent results of the ongoing studies in Prince William Sound. Through extensive work with three different groups of animals affected by the spill, they have exhibited a remarkable recovery by the ecosystem of Prince William Sound (Wiens, Page et al.). The first species the scientists studied is pink salmon; a fish of highly significant economic value. The fact that the salmon enter into the streams of Prince William Sound from mid July through September played a large role in their survival. Since the spill occurred in March, the streams had time to for fresh water to flow into the area. By the time the salmon arrived in the middle part of 1989, the levels of oil in the water were 10 to 1000 times less than amounts lethal to salmon. However, the most conclusive measure of the spill's affect on pink salmon is the population response over the years since the spill occurred. Remarkably, over this time the average salmon runs to the area are the highest in the recorded history of the run. The scientists also note that estimates show no difference in spawning numbers between streams within the oil spill site and nearby streams that never contained oil. Clearly, analysis of the ten years following the spill produces evidence that counters expectations that pink salmon populations would suffer from effects of the oil spilled from Exxon Valdez. Studies on sea otter populations in Price William Sound produce similar signs of environmental recovery. A substantial portion of the sea otter population was killed by oil from the Exxon Valdez. Even though otter numbers decreased initially following the spill, counts of independent otters since the spill have increased at almost all tested locations. Independent otter counts at all four heavily oiled sites were at least as high as the last prespill counts conducted in 1984-1985. Also, pups to adult ratios are considerably higher than prespill ratios at all sites. This movement towards recovery is credited to high pup production, reoccupation of oiled shorelines, and food habits identical to those before the spill. Although it is difficult to state exactly when recovery is complete, it appears the process is well on its way as otter populations continue to increase from year to year. The third group that Wiem and Page looked at included a group of 23 different species of sea birds. Of these 23 species, 10 (43%) showed no evidence of impacts associated with the oil spill, 1 (4%) exhibited a positive response to oiling, and 12 (52%) showed evidence of initial impacts with varying rates of subsequent recovery. All of these impacted species of sea birds exhibited strong evidence of recovery by 1998. One major success story involves the common merganser. From 1989 to 1991, the mergansers were absent from oiled bays. However, after 1991 densities of mergansers in oiled bays rose to values much higher than prespill levels. Of the 12 species that exhibited evidence of initial impact from the oil spill, 7 (58%) had clearly recovered by 1998. The other 5 show signs that eventually their population numbers will reach full recovery. The accounts of Wiem and Page make several startling points. They have exhibited that the real effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill are quite different from the expectations many had eleven years ago. Many people, including knowledgeable scientists, believed it would take hundreds of years for the effects of the spill to wash away. Yet, the environment of Prince William Sound has clearly shown its ability to fight back in a much shorter amount of time. In the case of pink salmon and roughly half of the sea birds considered their studies show no initial impact created by the oil spill. Also, in the case of sea otters and the other half of sea birds considered, there was an initial detrimental effect from the spill. Yet, in all of these cases recovery has either been accomplished or is well underway. The question is how did the environment of Price William Sound contradict overwhelming expectations for long-lasting effects from the disaster. It is difficult to determine exactly how the environment made such a quick recovery. In his book The Way Things Ought to Be, Rush Limbaugh states, "Take the Exxon Valdez spill. We were told that the cleanup would take hundreds of years. Now we see that through natural processes and the incredibly resilient powers of the planet, the tide has taken care of much of the damage that man didn't clean up." It seems as if the findings of Wiem and Page concur with Limbaugh's statement. Even though the coastline of Prince William Sound received some help from the cleanup crews of man, it appears that the environment played a large role in its own recovery. The areas high winds and crashing waves were highly important in the dispersal and breakdown of the spilled oil. Also the wide range of organisms in the ecosystem used different means to increase their own populations. Many of the species relocated to unoiled areas for a few years, then returned after the oil was removed. Others, such as the sea otters, increased production of young to bring populations back to prespill conditions. Resilience is the ability of an ecosystem to recover following some level of disturbance. Obviously, the ecosystem affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill is highly resilient. However, the ecosystem of Prince William Sound should not serve as a model of the ability of the entire earth to recover from disasters. The environment of Prince William Sound faces harsh winters and severe storms. Thus, natural selection has resulted in plant and animal communities that are highly resilient. They have been forced to recover from high amounts of stress for thousands of years. The species that inhabit the area are better prepared to defend stress due to their genetic adaptation. Even though the oil spill posed a new type of stress, the resilience of the adapted species aided in their quick recovery. It could even be argued that the oil spill created a stronger population of organisms because the weaker organisms were killed off making room for the stronger, more resilient organisms to thrive in. The problem with Limbaugh's statement is that he uses the example of the recovery in Prince William Sound to argue that the entire planet has the resilient powers to overcome environmental damage. However, there are numerous ecosystems found on that planet that lack the ability to recover from environmental disasters. For example, there are conifer forests that took thousands of years to develop. If they were destroyed it would be nearly impossible for them to ever fully recover. The same concept goes for the rainforests that are constantly being destroyed for farming practices. An estimated 108,000 acres a day and 39 million acres a year of rainforest are lost to slash and burn techniques (8). These infertile areas only produce for a few years until they are worthless. Sadly, rainforest ecosystems do not exhibit resilient capabilities and there is little chance they will ever recover. Obviously, the resilience and recovery of Prince William Sound cannot be used as example of the abilities of the entire planet. In his book, Limbaugh continues, "the earth is a remarkable creation and is capable of great rejuvenation. We can't destroy it. It can fix itself." This is a highly dangerous and outrageous conclusion to come to being he only cited the example of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It may be true that humans do not have the power to destroy the planet, yet we do have the ability to end our own existence on it. It seems as if Limbaugh believes the earth was created for the benefit of mankind. However, in actuality the planet existed for millions of years before humans set foot upon it. We need the earth to survive; yet the earth does not need us. Humans have right to use the earth's resources to their advantage because this is what every other organism on the planet seeks to do. The interesting thing about mankind is that we have the ability to limit our use to aid in survival in the future. Other species consume their available resources until their population is controlled by depletion of these resources. It seems as if this would be Limbaugh's approach to the use of resources. On the contrary, I believe we should use our knowledge of population dynamics to limit our use of resources before a reduction of resources results in our decline. If not, the same "natural processes" that aided in the recovery of Prince William Sound will play a large part in the widespread demise of our own species. Bibliography: Word Count: 1941
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