Worst Oil Spill in US History , Linked With Abnormal Dolphin DNA.
A new study has linked the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizons spill that occurred twelve years ago with genetic changes in bottlenose dolphins.
A new study has linked the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizons spill that occurred twelve years ago with genetic changes in bottlenose dolphins.
The study was published on August 24 in the journal 'PLOS One.'.
The 2010 spill, the largest in U.S. history, dumped over 210 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, scientists at the National Marine Mammal Foundation have investigated genetic changes in bottlenose dolphins.
Those genetic changes include impacted immune response as well as skeletal alterations and cellular dysfunction.
Researchers compared RNA samples from dolphins outside Barataria Bay, Louisiana, with dolphins near Sarasota Bay, Florida.
Dolphins found off the coast of Florida were four times more likely to successfully reproduce at a rate of about 83%.
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Dolphins closer to the spill off the coast of Louisiana had a successful reproduction rate of about 20%.
In April of 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizons spill lasted for 87 days following an explosion that killed 11 people.
Oceana, an ocean conservation organization, estimates the spill killed about 800,000 birds, over 170,000 sea turtles and over 150 dolphins and whales.
Oceana, an ocean conservation organization, estimates the spill killed about 800,000 birds, over 170,000 sea turtles and over 150 dolphins and whales.
Oceana, an ocean conservation organization, estimates the spill killed about 800,000 birds, over 170,000 sea turtles and over 150 dolphins and whales.
In 2020, NBC reported that many of these animal populations were already endangered prior to the spill and are still exhibiting long-term impacts
