Question: If an oil tank exploded in the ocean, what would the effect be to the environment?

Imogen Napper answered on 10 Mar 2015:

Oil spills often result in both immediate and long-term environmental damage. Some of the environmental damage caused by an oil spill can last for decades after the spill occurs.

When an oil slick from a large oil spill reaches the beach, the oil coats and clings to every rock and grain of sand.

When some of the oil eventually stops floating on the surface of the water and begins to sink into the marine environment, it can have damaging effects on fragile underwater ecosystems, killing or contaminating many fish and smaller organisms that are essential links in the global food chain.

It can also harm marine animals such as birds, who get coated in oil and then are unable to move or fly 🙁 !