How to Clean Up Ocean Oil Spills

An oil spill in the ocean can have disastrous effects on the ocean ecosystem. The oil is toxic for animals and can kill them in many painful ways. The oil can cause hypothermia in animals and also enter the lungs, livers and intestines of the wildlife even as they try to flee the affected area. If you live in an area affected by an oil spill, you can take steps to help clean the spill. You can save the lives of thousands of animals and help restore the ecosystem to its original state before the disaster.

Things You'll Need

• Tents
• Plastic tubs
• Hot water
• Soap
• Booms
• Skimmers
• Trash bags
• Scrub brushes
• Animal cages

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Instructions

• 1

  Set up cleaning stations. Use two different stations so you can wash inanimate objects separately from animals. Build them near a steady supply of hot water. Use plastic tubs to wash animals and items. Use only gentle detergents that are tough on oil, but gentle on wildlife.

• 2

  Set booms around the spill. Booms are barriers that float at the top of the water. They work to contain the oil spill in a central location where skimmers can pick it up. Skimmers can be anything that helps scoop the oil out of the water (such as an absorbent rope or a special vacuum).

• 3

  Collect oily items on the beach and relocate them for cleaning. This includes rocks, shells, driftwood and anything else you can find on the shoreline. Scrub the items with stiff bristled brushes as well as hot water. Store the items until the beach no longer has oily water washing onto the shores.

• 4

  Catch smaller animals like birds, crabs and otters. Bring them back to the cleaning station where you can wash the oil off them and provide medical attention to the animals that need it (under the guidance of a professional veterinarian).

• 5

  Detain the animals until there is no longer a sheet of oil covering the surface of the water or the beaches. If you release the animals right after cleaning them, they will inevitably wander back into the oil spill area and put themselves in danger.