[Paddlewise] Oil spills

Not that it is any big comfort, but the colder the water is, the longer 
an oil spill affects its surrounding: Im warm waters it decomposes far 
fast than in icecold waters, but if the dispersing agents do any good 
in the long run is open to debate.

According to the then famous book "Super tankers" a small tanker 
accidentally emptied its tanks (filled with alcohol) in the middle of 
Hudson Bay. Naturally all life below the ship died instantly. Ten years 
later there was still no sign of life!

Studies have been made on the effects of a severe oil spill along the 
coast of Brazil, where the first year most minor creatures were gone in 
the magrove swamps, but just five years later things were back to 
normal. Here, on the West Coast of Sweden, the waters never become 
really warm, thus it takes ages for all oil to disappear after an oil 
spill - a situation similar to that in Alaska, after Exxon Valdez. 
There the situation is now stable, but a lot of oil is still around, 
below the bottom of the sea, where the clams live. As the clams are 
eaten by the sea otters, the amount of oil in the bottom sediments go 
down, slowly but surely, so as long as there are otters, the situation 
will be improving, as I said: slowly but surely.

Tord

PS As far as the Alaska scientists, interviewed on Swedish radio,  are 
aware, the otters themselves don't seem to come to any harm!
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