What are oil spills and why are they gigantic killers?

On October 3, 2021, a large oil spill was detected along the coast of southern California. Local officials are calling it an environmental catastrophe. The U.S. Coast Guard is heading the clean-up process, involving federal, state and city agencies. They are also investigating as to just how this disaster happened. But why and how is oil floating on ocean water a threat?  

What happens in oil spills? 
The oil we use in machinery, vehicles and industry comes from deep below the surface of the Earth, or the ocean floor. Oil rigs dig and extract from underwater reserves. When these rigs break or their machinery somehow malfunction, thousands of tons of oil seep into the environment. The thin film of oil floating on water, spreading hundreds of miles around the source of the spill, is called an oil slick. Oil spills and slicks kill plants and animals, disturb salinity/pH levels of sea water, pollute air/water and all inlets linked with a polluted coast.  

What is the extent of damage in oil spills?  
The recent spill has left hundreds of fish dead, birds mired in petroleum and wetlands along the California coast contaminated. According to US coastal authorities’ estimates, 126,000 gallons of oil spilled out. The resulting oil slick now covers more than 33 square km of the Pacific Ocean surface along California’s Huntington Beach.  

We can see dead fish floating up or washing ashore, oil covered birds sitting on the beach, unable to fly, dying slowly. And there’s more happening beneath the water’s surface. When oil spills in the ocean, it does not blend with water, but floats as oil slick. This blocks sunlight from reaching oceanic environments, severely impacting plant growth. With plants and plankton, i.e. the source of food affected, the entire food chain of an ecosystem starts collapsing, moving thousands of innocent creatures towards death. 

How can an oil spill be cleaned? 
Oil slicks remain until weather and time break the oil down. This natural cleaning process is extremely slow, which means a part of the ocean would be a graveyard by the time the surface clears. So, environmentalists and government bodies are working diligently to clean the contaminated beach, shoreline and sea.