The amount of damage caused by oil pollution also depends on the direction in which it is carried by wind and ocean current. About 25 percent of the crude oil in a spill are volatile and evaporate within three months, becoming an air pollutant. Relatively non-volatile compounds that are lighter than water float on the surface, where they are broken down by bacteria over the next few months. Nearly 60 percent of the oil spill is destroyed this way. The remaining 15 percent consist of heavier compounds that stick together and sink to the bottom in huge globs.
Oil coats things.
Oil could block up the xylum as well as stomata, reducing the efficiency of transpiration. Thus it can kill quickly by coating marine and freshwater life, interfering with gas exchanges necessary for life.