Around 35,000 sea birds were killed in the oil slick. Oil slicks poison sea life, clog up the feathers of birds and leak toxic chemicals into the sea. We've been talking about oil spills and oil slicks. Oil is spilt into the sea by supertankers. It can also leak into the rivers from broken pipelines.
Oil slicks poison sea life, clog up the feathers of birds and leak toxic chemicals into the sea.
Detergents are used to break up oil slicks, but they themselves contain chemicals, which can damage wildlife, too. Although two-thirds of our planet is covered by the seas, we're still learning about the life forms which exist there. Until recently, the store of potential medicines from the sea remained untapped. Now, thanks to improved underwater exploration techniques, the marine environment is finally giving up its secrets. For example, many different species of sponge from the warm seas produce unique substances which show high activity against leukemia cells.