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An oil soaked bird struggles against the side of the HOS Iron Horse supply vessel at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP
oil pollution:
The harmful results of spilling oil into the oceans and other bodies of water. Oil spills can come from tankers that have had accidents or washed their tanks at sea. The oil is often pushed onshore by the winds and the currents. Large amounts of oil pollution at sea kills birds, fish, and sea mammals and causes damage to marine and wildlife habitats. The worst oil pollution ever experienced was the result of the explosion of BP’s oil drilling platform Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. The explosion killed 11 platform operators and resulted in the release of an estimated 5 million barrels of oil. An area damaged by a large oil spill such as that may take many years to recover.
