Oil spillage: effects on animals
The oil penetrates the plumage of the birds, reducing the thermal insulating
capacity and making the feathers unsuitable for swimming and flying.
So the birds don’t have the opportunity to get food and escape from predators.
In addition, they clean their feathers, ingesting oil, with harmful effects on the
kidneys, liver and digestive system. Many birds die before human relief arrives.
Even marine mammals, that are exposed to oil, exhibit symptoms similar to those found in birds:
in particular the fur of sea otters and seals loses its power as a thermal insulator, causing
hypothermia.
Maddalena