Mysterious Tar Balls Wash Up on Texas Coast, Threatening Wildlife

Five different species of sea turtles that nest at Padre Island are now being threatened by offshore oil drilling. Over the past couple of months, mysterious tar balls have been washing up along the Texas coast. These accumulations of crude oil range from only a couple of inches to nearly two feet long, and stretch along thousands of yards of the Texas coastline. The tar is detrimental to the viability of the turtle’s eggs, and even a small amount could prove fatal to the baby turtles within. Padre Island is a very ecologically sensitive area, as it is the only place in Texas where all five species of turtles found in the Gulf of Mexico nest. These tar balls are threatening enough, but what’s truly unsettling is that we have no idea where they’re coming from.

What we do know is that offshore drilling is hurting wildlife and will continue to do so. A new study released by the NOAA shows that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to mass dolphin deaths throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The study showed that that dolphins exposed to oil were nearly 5 times more likely to have damaged adrenal glands, which produce essential hormones, than those not exposed to the spill. In addition, dolphins exposed to oil were 10 times more likely to have contracted bacterial pneumonia than those who weren’t.

If nothing is done to rein in offshore oil drilling, these devastating ecological effects will continue to be seen. New data obtained from the Texas General Land Office shows that continued drilling has only made spills more likely and more immense.  There were over 300 more oil spills in 2014 than in 2013, and the GLO identified spills totaling 174,911 gallons in 2014, as compared to 12,739 in 2013. A number that high may seem shocking, but the Gulf of Mexico has experienced a spill over 100,000 gallons every other year on average since 1964.

Most of the United State’s offshore drilling operations occur in the Gulf of Mexico, which is why it isn’t surprising that Texas tied for last in a report that ranked states on their ocean protection. The most effective and impactful action to change this ranking would be to stop offshore drilling entirely. This would give our marine wildlife the protection it deserves. That isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, so in the meantime other measures must be taken. Expanding protected areas, like the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, would help protect the most ecologically important areas for marine life. In addition, Texas would be smart to set up no-take marine protection areas, in which any kind of extractive process, like fishing or drilling, would not be allowed. Studies have shown that these areas provide the most protection to marine life. So much so, in fact, that these areas teem with life, and often end up spilling outside their boundaries, restoring the strength of our marine life while also providing our state with more marine resources.

It’s important to remember that the health and safety of our beloved Gulf of Mexico should be in the hands of trained government officials, and not the corporations who have a monetary interest in extracting as much as possible. BP claimed, in response to the dolphin mortality study mentioned earlier, that there was no evidence that the Deepwater Horizon spill contributed to dolphin mortality, despite the fact that the study said exactly that. This kind of mindset threatens the health and diversity of our marine communities, and is part of the reason why 40% of our fisheries have crashed or are overfished. Sensible regulations and protections must be put in place to ensure the long term viability of our oceans. The most sensible protection would be to eliminate offshore drilling, but in lieu of that, expanded marine sanctuaries and no take protection areas will go a long way towards protecting the coast Texans know and love.

Guest post by Chris Bourbois

Keep Our RIvers Flowing Campaign Intern