The Exxon-Valdez Disaster

Paper Summary:

In March 24, 1989, Captain Joe Hazelwood and his crew impaled the oil tanker Exxon-Valdez on Bligh Reef, spilling more than 42 million liters of oil into the waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound. This paper shows that it was the worst environmental disaster ever to happen in American waters. The spill area was about the size of three football fields and covered nearly 1,400 shoreline miles of the Sound. The paper examines the immediate and long-term effects on the environment as a result of this spill. It also discusses the role of the media in the disaster.

From the Paper:

"Immediately after the spill, nearly 800 birds were captured and laundered by scientists, but after their re-release into the environment, most birds only survived an average of one week before dying. Sea birds often gather at the places of land-water and air-water interface - the areas most disrupted by the spill itself. In the long term, however, the lowering of sea bird populations was related to their reproduction cycles, which were inhibited by the presence of oil in their nesting areas."

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