14 DAY TRIAL // A few weeks ago, on March 22, a barge carrying marine shipping oil collided with a vessel in the Houston Ship Channel and spilled into nearby waters about 168,000 gallons of the fuel it was transporting. Shortly after, specialists warned that the incident was bound to greatly affect local natural ecosystems, and, by the looks of it, they could not have been more right.
Thus, recent news on the topic says that workers and specialists in charge of monitoring the area affected by the March 22 oil spill have found that roughly 200,000 pounds (approximately 90,718 kilograms) of oiled sand and debris now sit along the Texas coastline.
According to Think Progress, evidence indicates that these 200,000 pounds of oiled sand and debris are the result of the Galveston Bay oil spill. Specialists estimate that, all in all, the contaminated sand and debris presently span over about 22 miles (35.4 kilometers) of coastline.
The same source details that, up until last week's Thursday, a total of 329 birds affected by the spill had been found in the region. The birds were all covered in oil, and most of them were dead. Information shared with the public says that the birds belonged to several different species, i.e. ducks, herons, herrings, white pelicans, loons, piping plovers and black-bellied plovers.
What's more, evidence indicates that marine wildlife both in Galveston Bay and in nearby waters has also been affected by the 160,000 gallons of marine shipping fuel that spilled in this part of the United States on March 22. Specifically, it appears that, since the incident, the bodies of 29 dolphins have been recovered in Galveston Bay's proximity.
Specialists have not yet determined whether these marine mammals were killed by the spill. However, they say that, when compared to the number of dolphins that were found dead in these waters in March 2013, this year's body count for the same month is three times greater. Hence, it is possible that having workers patrol these waters and carrying out cleanup activities has had a negative impact on local wildlife.
Media reports say that, apart from killing birds and affecting local natural ecosystems, the March 22 spill might upset the local seafood industry. Thus, a fishing vessel operating in the region claims to have come across an entire catch of shrimp that was coated in oil, and fishermen claim that the incident has caused many people not to want to buy shrimp caught in these waters.
Despite the fact that it has been a while since the spill occurred, it is still unclear how and why the barge and the ship came to run into one another. The barge, dubbed Summer Wind, has been seized, and is to remain anchored until authorities figure out who is to blame for the incident.