“Billions of dollars in damage, animals

threatened, people scared. This is one of the worst problems that has ever struck the Gulf of

Mexico”- New York Times

“It’s as if the gulf has been plagued with toxins”-

Chicago Inquirer

“Like orange blood rushing through the once safe and peaceful gulf.”-

LA Times

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a massive rig, located in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana. Around 9:45 a.m. the methane gas from the rig shot up the 5,000 feet tall drilling column (due to extremely high pressure), expanded onto the platform, ignited and exploded. Most workers escaped but a few were killed in the explosion. After the rig sank due to the walls being so badly burnt, an oil leak was discovered. By the time the leak was discovered (2 days after the explosion) it was too late. Barrels and barrels of oil flooded the gulf. It is said to have been coming out at a rate of 162,000 barrels a day. The spill was too big to be trapped into one area and therefore was spreading towards Mexico and a part of southern USA. This was the biggest catastrophe to ever hit the gulf of Mexico.

The original Deepwater Horizon rig

10 hours after the explosion the fire was just getting

bigger

After the oil leak was discovered B.P. and the United States Coast Guard did not think the oil leaking from the well was as large as it was. However, one of the heads of the U.S.C.G did report that there was a leaking well head. Now the Coast Guard was worried. The oil was spreading at a rapidly fast rate and the leak was still open. The estimates were getting higher and higher. B.P. came up with a few ideas to try and stop the oil. Most failed but one was more successful. A massive containment system was being used and on June 5, 2010, B.P. announced that about 25,000 barrels of oil had been stopped. The US Coast Guard came up with a plan to cap the leaking wellhead. It was successful. They were able to stop anymore oil from leaking out into the gulf.

The leaking well head from the highly damaged

oil rig on the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil from the spill began washing up on the Mexico shores in June. It reached Florida by July and hit Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia in August. It was contaminating many beaches because of the massive amounts of oil. As soon as the oil hit the shores, many eco-friendly groups started gathering people to help clean up the beaches. The oil that was in the water was being cleaned up by the Coast Guard using highly advanced new technologies and B.P. had paid millions of dollars to help clean up on the ocean floor. Along the coast the oil was still spreading on the shoreline but there was improvement from when the oil first hit because of the many people who started to clean up this major mess.

Tarballs washed up on the shores of Georgia

The oil near the Bay of Mexico turns the water

almost jet black

The oil spill affected many aspects of human kind. All the oil was contaminating huge parts of the gulf. People were not able to go in the ocean because of the highly toxic chemicals. As mentioned before, beaches and shorelines were covered in what the Coast Guard were calling tarballs. Animals and other ecosystems were also affected. Animals in the water like fish, marine mammals, marine plants and thousands of mini-organisms were affected because of the oil acting like a blanket on the water. It was blocking sunlight, oxygen and coating the animals in the poison. Animals along the shore were in danger as well. Marine birds, like seagulls and pelicans, were not able to get fish from the water or if they did try to, they would be covered in the oil. This was a huge devastation to our oceanic eco-systems.

A pelican, coated with oil, looking for any food.

A goose who was caught in the spill is avoiding the oil

The topic of the oil spill connects with our A.O.I. in a few ways. Health and Social Education is about how we interact with others and how we act towards others. During the spill there were many random civilians that wanted to help others by cleaning up the oil. Members from the US Coast Guard were also very helpful by spending millions to try and clean up the oil. Also the A.O.I. mentions how we think, but more importantly how we act. There were many people that thought abut going and cleaning up some of the oil but let other people go and do it. Then there were some who wanted to make a difference and they did. The relationship between the A.O.I. and the oil spill is all about helping and caring for other peoples well-being.

Health and Social Education

Ordinary people in southern Louisiana starting the massive

clean up