Marine life dramatically declined in Gulf of Mexico in years after BP oil spill, study finds
Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Ala., June 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a deep, dark part of the Gulf of Mexico, the number of marine animals plummeted by about 60% in the years following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, a new study found.
In a crucial part of the Gulf between the light surface and the darkest depths, where the BP-operated well failed and dumped 134 million gallons of oil, the number of fish found dropped by 63.5% from the year after the spill to 2015. Crustaceans, including shrimp and krill, a key food for whales, went down 62%, and larger animals like squid and octopuses fell 59.7%, according to a study published Monday in the journal PNAS.