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Photo Credit: Jay P

Officially, the BP oil spill has been leaking up to 5,000 barrels a day, but recent estimates have reported leakage from 20,000 to 100,000 barrels a day, which does not present much optimism for the situation.  With the spill worsening in the Gulf of Mexico, what dimension of the oil spill should we be worried for the most?

The most concerning part of the situation is the spread of the oil to the coastal estuaries and marshes.  According to Mark Carr of the Long Marine Laboratory in the University of California Santa Cruz, these wetlands are the place of reproduction for many marine fish and invertebrates.  There is also concern that marine species will be affected themselves.  Marine fish can be affected by the toxicity of the oil or the properties of the oil, which can slow the internal systems of the fish.  There is also fear that the oil, if it spreads to the ocean floor, can be transferred up the marine food chain from species of marine plants and invertebrates to larger fish species like tuna and shark.

The oil spill will also have an affect on the resources of people.  If the oil gets through to the water column, our drinking water would be infested with oil and commercial fisheries can also be contaminated by the oil spill, so much that the fish cannot be consumed.

Another concern is the spread of the oil spill to the Florida Keys, because of the Loop Current, which will bring oil towards the Atlantic Ocean.  The Keys hold a fragile coral reef ecosystem, which will be devastated by even the slightest change in current conditions.

With these affects looming over the future of the ocean’s health, cleaning up this oil spill should be a top priority.

To read more about the effects of the oil spill, click here.