M A G G I E C H O U , S L O A N E F R A Z I E R , G A B B Y G O O D E N A N D

Z U R I W I L L I A M S

life below water

How the oil spills are affecting the animals and humans.
Cómo los derrames de petróleo están afectando a los animales
y a los seres humanos.

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 OUR GOAL/ NUESTRA META
Our UN goal is life below water. You may be wondering why we picked oil
spills. Well, we picked oil spills because they are a major threat to the ocean.
Oil spills occur when oil rigs leak oil or failure in transportation.

Our UN goal is about conserving life below water, and helping animals after
oil spills. Helping life below water is also part of conserving life below
water. Our UN goal, goal 14, aims to protect the ocean from pollution and
other things that are affecting the ocean, such as oil spills.

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WHAT DOES A HEALTHY OCEAN LOOK LIKE ?
?CÓMO ES UN OCÉANO SALUDABLE¿
No trash or oil , Sin basura o aceite
Healthy coral, Coral sanos
Healthy animals, Animales sanos
Biodiversity, Biodiversidad
Food sources, Azotes alimentarios

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WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE OCEAN??
¿ QUÉ LE ESTÁ PASANDO AL OCÉANO?

Over fishing, Sobre pesca

Pollution, Contaminación
Unhealthy animals and coral, Animales
insalubres y coral
Extinction, Extinción
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 HOW DO OIL SPILLS AFFECT THE ENVIROMENT AND ANIMALS ?
¿CÓMO AFECTAN LOS DERRAMES DE PETRÓLEO AL MEDIO AMBIENTE Y A LOS
ANIMALES?
Oil spills are a threat to the ocean, but they are a even bigger threat if you don’t
clean them up in time. The threat is larger because the oil makes it difficult for
animals to live. For example, when the animal tries to clean themselves, the may
ingest the oil and get extremely sick.
Los derrames de petróleo son una amenaza para el océano, pero son una
amenaza aún mayor si no se limpia el agua a tiempo. La amenaza es mayor
porque el petróleo se convierte en un nuevo hábitat, y los animales no
pueden escapar del petróleo. Por ejemplo, cuando el animal intenta
limpiarse, puede ingerir el aceite y enfermarse extremadamente.

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 HOW DO OIL SPILLS AFFECT THE ENVIROMENT AND ANIMALS ?
¿CÓMO AFECTAN LOS DERRAMES DE PETRÓLEO AL MEDIO AMBIENTE Y A LOS
ANIMALES?
Las aves tienen diferentes capas de plumas que ayudan a proteger su piel al tener un
recubrimiento y protegerlas del agua fría. Pero cuando estas capas de plumas entran
en contacto con el aceite de los derrames de aceite, estas plumas se dividen y luego
la piel del ave se expone al agua fría y luego pueden contraer hipotermia y morir.
Fowl have different layers of feathers that help protect their skin by having a
coating and protect them from the cold water. But when these layers of
feathers come in contact with the oil from oil spills, these feathers split and
then the bird's skin gets exposed to cold water and then they may get
hypothermia and die.

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HOW CAN YOU HELP THE OCEAN? ¿CÓMO PUEDES AYUDAR AL OCÉANO?
Some things you can do to help the ocean are:
1. You can use less water to save ocean water that the animals use to live.
2. You can reduce the use of toxic chemicals like air fresheners and bleach. You need to
get rid of these properly.
3. When you eat something, you may not always finish it. but because you didn't finish it,
don't throw it away. You can put it in the fridge to eat later.
4. Shop wisely. When you go to a grocery store, bring a reusable bag and sustainable
seafood.
5. Reduce the amount of time you spend in a car, use bikes or carpool or use public
transportation instead.
6. Only set your electronics as you need, use sustainable light bulbs.
7. Responsively fish, catch and release.

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 ACTION PLAN/ PLAN DE ACCION
Our action plan will be to have petitons for our
communities to recycle and to dispose of oil properly.

Nuestro plan de acción será tener petitons para que

nuestras comunidades reciclen y desechen el petróleo
de manera adecuada

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 CITATION
5,
site, nps.gov
author, nps.gov
published day, n/a
url, https://www.nps.gov/subjects/spillresponse/spilleffects.htm
6,
site name, NOAA
Author, NOAA
published, 6/16/24
url, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oilimpacts.html
7,
site name, NOAA
author NOAA
published day n/a
url, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/

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 WHAT EXPERTS SAY
HOW DO OIL SPILLS AFFECT THE ENVIROMENT AND ANIMALS?
“Oil spills have severe and far-reaching impacts on marine ecosystems. When oil enters the ocean, it
contaminates the water column and disrupts the delicate balance of the ecosystem. This can lead to the
death of marine organisms or cause sublethal effects—such as reduced reproductive success, impaired
growth, and weakened immune systems. Ultimately, oil spills can significantly disrupt ecosystem
functions and threaten the health of both individual species and entire habitats.” ( sourced from Emma
Shuppert from Oceana)

“Oil spills are terrible on the environment, and impact life all over - from marine mammals like dolphins, to
seabirds that land on the water's surface to try and get food (and then getting the oil stuck in their feathers,
making it impossible to clean off and getting it into their body). Oil spills can spread hundreds of miles -
impacting animals health all over. This has a big reach to people too - if shrimp are impacted in a spill for
example, the oil negatively impacts their health, and all creatures who eat those shrimp (including people)
can get sick too. Oil can make undersea habitats like seagrass and coral sick too, so the effects of one oil spill
can ripple throughout a huge area!” ( scourced from Lindsay Brubaker from Oceana

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 WHAT EXPERTS SAY
WHAT DOES A HEALTHY OCEAN LOOK LIKE
“To me, a healthy ocean is vibrant, full of life, and rich in biodiversity. It reflects a balanced
ecosystem where marine species thrive, and human activity is in harmony with natural processes.
Achieving this requires us to adopt sustainable fishing practices, minimize pollution, and cultivate a
more respectful, stewardship-based relationship with the ocean.” ( sourced from Emma Shuppert
from Oceana )

“A healthy ocean can be hard to achieve, but ideally we want healthy populations of all sea life and we
want to place as little harm on the ocean as we can. That can mean we stop overfishing different
types of fish, we stop putting plastic into the ocean and find a way to take out existing plastic, we
stop polluting and putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (which also warms our ocean), and
we stop things like oil spills. We need to take care of our ocean so she can take care of us! A healthy
ocean should be healthy for all life and all people.” ( sourced from Lindsay Brubaker from Oceana

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 WHAT EXPERTS SAY
HOW CAN WE HELP THE OCEAN TO BE A SAFER PLACE FOR MARINE LIFE
“We can help make the ocean safer for marine life by combining everyday actions with broader advocacy. On an
individual level, simple choices—like using a reusable water bottle or properly sorting recyclables—can reduce
pollution and protect ocean habitats. But individual efforts must be paired with collective action. Supporting
policies that establish marine protected areas (MPAs) or limit the production of single-use plastics is essential to
driving systemic change and ensuring long-term ocean health. “( sourced from Emma Shuppert from Oceana )

“ I answered some of this in the second question, but other ways we can help the ocean be safer (besides
reducing pollution and plastics, and stopping overfishing) could be to find ways for ships to stop hitting whales
and other mammals. This could mean having slower speeds in areas where there are lots of whales for example.
Whatever actions we take to make the ocean safer, it's clear we cannot do it alone. Action taken with as many
people as possible, representing as many diverse voices as possible, is how we make sure that whatever solutions
we pick represent the best for the ocean and those who rely on it. “( scourced from Lindsay Brubaker from
Oceana”

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