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How will the oil spill affect the food chain?
Ecologists have put up barriers to stop oil from the spill from reaching the shores of islands and land. But what affect will the oil have on land animals? Read the article Concerns Up and Down the Food Chain, by Leslie Kaufman. Be sure after reading the article to look at the graphic "Spills Affect Underwater" on the left of the page. Describe how the oil spill will play a major role in the food chain.
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Starting from the bottom of the foodchain travelling up, no animals can espace the effects of an oil spill. The blue crab, for example, may be the first step in the poisoning of the food chain. A larger animal wil then eat the toxic crab. That animal will be eaten by another animal, until the whole food chain is affected devistantingly. The affects of oil on the food chain does not have to start from the bottom. Predatory animals are also affected, throwing off the natural balance.
ReplyDeleteMany smaller organisms were affected greatly by the oil spill which cause other animals to suffer because the smaller organisms are their main food source. Also animals like whales who come up to the surface for oxygen suffer because they ingest the oil and drowned. The food chain has suffered greatly because in each section animals have been victims of the oil spill.
ReplyDeleteThe oil spill will play a huge roll in the destruction of the natural ocean enviroment. The oil can kill many animals on the spot, however more serious are the long term effects. If an animal ingests any part of oil it puts any animal that eats in in danger of toxin contamination. The food chain will be altered because animals will not eat and there will basically be a ripple effect in the enviroment.
ReplyDeleteThe whole food chain is disrupted when one group fails. In the case of the oil spill, smaller marine animals or their eggs are exposed to toxic chemicals. Bigger animals such as fish and whales eat them and also become poisoned. This tampering with the food chain greatly affects the fragile ecosystem. The oil also has many direct effects on marine life. The fumes drug whales and dolphins. This makes them unable to surface for air, ultimately drowning them.
ReplyDeleteThe entire food chain is affected even when just one link gets poisioned. An example of this happening is the oil spill. What may happen is smaller animals may get exposed to the oil spill chemicals and other larger animals may eat them, ingesting the toxic chemicals. This process will continue, and they will spread throughout the rest of the food chain. It destroys the environment greatly.
ReplyDeleteThe oil spill is a storm of trouble for any animals that are in contact with it. If the oil does not choke the animals right away then they will probably have long term affects. The oil will poison the animals and then it will travel along the food cycle infecting all of the animals that come in contact with it. The oil will kill all the animals that come in contact with it.
ReplyDeleteoil spill will play a huge roll in the destruction of the natural ocean enviromentsmaller marine animals or their eggs are exposed to toxic chemicals. Bigger animals such as fish and whales eat them and also become poisonedThe affects of oil on the food chain does not have to start from the bottom
ReplyDeleteAll oil spills cause enormous and devastating changes to the ocean life around the area. Whales and dolphins will get very irritated by the toxins and eventually die and sink to the bottoms of oceans from inhaling the fumes. The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is causing the government to scramble to help fix the problems before it gets any worse. They do not want the spill to reach the island that inhabits many species of birds.
ReplyDeleteAny oil spill can cause a change towards the oceans and their environment. Any creatures and species are harmed and either sink or float in the ocean due to inhaling the toxins and fumes. The government officials are saying that there might be oil leaking from a well at a certain rate. And they don't want the oil to reach the island-inhabitants of the many species of birds.
ReplyDeleteOil spill does affect the food chain in a major way. Mammals like whales get so intoxicated and drugged by these fumes, that they will eventually drown and die. Tiny organisms in the sea are affected too. The oil that has gotten ingested inside them has burned them from the inside out because of the sun. Oiled seabirds are now at the tip of the icebergs because the oil spill affects life both up and down the food chain. When the blue crabs molt the crabs breed at sea. The females go out into the Gulf and lay their eggs. As soon as the eggs are hatched, they are already covered in oil. This oil can cause deformities to the crabs. Also when certain animals need to go up for air, the oil causes them to get skin and eye irritation. Even when animals eat sea grass and other plants or animals, they will be affected in a deadly way.
ReplyDeleteOil spills effect the food chain. When a smaller animal is intoxicated by oil, the predator of that animal then eats that intoxicated prey and then the predator is then intoxicated. This causes the oil to be affecting everyone in the food chain. This means that we humans can be affected. If a small crab eats sea grass that had oil on it then that crab would be intoxicated. Then, if a bigger fish ate that crab and then a human ate the bigger fish, the human would ultimately be intoxicated. This spread through the food chain doesn't always start at the bottom of the food chain, it can be caused by predatory animals.
ReplyDeleteOil spills effect every part of the ecosytem. When a smaller animal is engulfed by oil, the predators that consume them are also effected. This means that human beings are also effected by mass oil spills. Animals such as crabs, shrimp, and fish that are effected by oil spills are eaten by humans cause serious health problems on both the humans. We must do our best to prevent oil spills and other disasterous causes. All parts of the food chain are effected by oil spills, from predators, to prey.
ReplyDeleteThe oil spill will cause a great effect on the food chain starting wherever on the food chain. If you start from the bottom, a small organism, such as the blue crab, will become toxic and later ingested by a bigger organism. Also, whales who take in water and let it out from their blowholes will be ingesting oil rather than water. This will cause them to not be able to let out the water and cause them to die. The food chain will become full of toxic animals and more and more will die because of the inability to eat the natural organisms that they eat.
ReplyDeleteOil spills affect the food chain very much. In the deeper horizon the oil spill has nearly touched all marine life underwater and many can die ofcourse and already have. The water gets intoxicated and fumes start to spread. The worst thing is that most of marine life has hatched and settled their eggs in the very deep where most of the oil lays. Once they become hatched and are blind to see what is going on they will soon die from being anesthetized or sleepy. This affects us because for example the blue crab that lays eggs in the infected water and when they become ready to come out they all will have been affected and we can not eat them anymore. Fishes can not be eaten by the larger fish and turtles can not eat the plants grown in the water. In fact it has been included in the article that already thirty turtles have been washed up on shore dead. The food chain can no longer be a food chain if it has been infected for all life.
ReplyDeleteWhen one link of the food chain is damaged, the entire food chain shifts. The oil spill is a perfect example of just that. Some of the smaller organisms will injest the oil without realizing it. The bigger animals will then eat the sick organisms and become sick themselves. This process will continue until the wildlfe becomes critically impacted. Diasters like this greatly affect the environment and all f it's inhabitants.
ReplyDeleteBirds die from oil spills if their feathers are covered in oil. The bird will then be poisoned because it will try to clean itself. Animals may die because they get hypothermia, causing their body temperature to be very low. They may die from very low body temperature. Oil may also cause the death of an animal by entering the animal's lungs or liver. The animal will then be poisoned by the oil. Oil also can kill an animal by blinding it. The animal will not be able to see and be aware of their predators. If they are not aware of other animals, they may be eaten.
ReplyDeleteThe oil spill has made a great impact in the food chain. It doesnt take very much for it too shift. when one living organism dies the entire chain is changed. The oil spill is an example to this theory. The oil spill has caused many animals to become sick by them injesting it. Whether they eat it themselves or eat another living then that has already consumed it, it finds a way of getting to their lungs or liver, or by blinding it. Unnatural disasters like this are what we need to try and prevent to keep our environment clean.
ReplyDeleteThe recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is having a large impact on its marine animals. Since it is mating season for many species, their eggs are floating around and get covered in oil, causing problems for these animals. Dolphins' eyes and skin get irritated, whales become disoriented and die from oil fumes, and animals take in the oil and get burned from the inside out from the sun. The food chain is affected when oil spills and covers sea grasses, because primary consumers eat the grass and also the oil. When secondary consumers eat the primary ones, the oil gets passed on again. This cycle keeps going until it has intoxicated animals like birds or other land mammals that eat the fish.
ReplyDelete