How Does the BP Oil Spill Impact Wildlife and Habitat?

With more than 400 fish and wildlife species relying on the Gulf Coast for food, cover, and breeding areas, the BP Oil Spill threatens the survival of marine and terrestrial species not only now, but in the long term as well.

Similar to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, populations of fish, shellfish, marine mammals, birds and other wildlife that depend on coastal habitat may not recover, even decades later.

Learn How Oil Impacts...

• Birds 
• Mammals
• Sea turtles and other reptiles 
• Fish and aquatic invertebrates
• Habitat

 

Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report

Last Updated August 31, 2010

Dead Mammals: 81

Oiled but alive: 8

Cleaned and released: 3

Dead Birds: 5,401

Oiled but alive: 2,037

Cleaned and released: 1,133

Dead Sea Turtles: 553

Oiled but alive: 520

Cleaned and released: 166

Relocated nests: 278

  Source: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/55963

Note: These are the consolidated numbers of collected fish and wildlife that have been reported to the Unified Area Command from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), incident area commands, rehabilitation centers and other authorized sources operating within the Deepwater Horizon/BP incident impact area.

At this phase in the response, field-level staff will document all injured or dead fish and wildlife encountered in the impact area. These numbers reflect only the initial, field-level, evaluation and do not reflect a final determination of the cause of injury, or death. Not all of the injured or dead fish and wildlife reflected in these numbers were necessarily caused by the Deepwater Horizon/BP incident. Official designations of cause of death will be determined at a later date.

Impacts on Habitat

Ninety percent of all the marine species in the Gulf depend on coastal estuaries at some point in their lives, and most of these estuaries are in Louisiana. Louisiana's estuarine habitat includes salt marshes and barrier islands that sit on the edge of Louisiana's coast -- areas that have been hit first and hit hardest by the spill.

• Oil is harder to remove from the highly organic soils that occur in coastal wetlands and marshes.

• Oil can kill or reduce growth of marsh grasses, which are a key source of food and cover for wildlife. This vegetation loss will also lead to erosion and contribute to the coast's already rapid rate of land loss.

Polluted Ecosystem = Polluted Economy

The Gulf Coast states rely heavily on commercial fishing to sustain their local economies. According to NOAA, commercial fisheries brought in a total $659 million in shellfish and finfish in 2008. Just over 3 million people took recreational fishing trips in the Gulf that year as well.

As oil spreads through the Gulf, fishing grounds are already undergoing temporary closures as state wildlife and fisheries officials test for contamination.

• The area affected by the spill is prime spawning ground for fish, shrimp, crabs, and is full of oyster beds.

• The Gulf region accounts for about one-fifth of total U.S. commercial seafood production and nearly three-quarters of the nation's shrimp output.

• Louisiana produces 50 percent of the U.S. shrimp crop, 35 percent of the nation's blue claw crabs, and 40 percent of its oysters.