Sea Monsters Two Years After Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

March 28, 2013

These aren’t just old fishermen’s tales. More than two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, local Gulf Coast fishers are seeing eyeless fish and shrimp, festering sores and tumors on catches and other mutations in their nets.

The University of South Florida conducted a survey after the spill with startling results: between two to five percent of fish in the Gulf now have skin lesions or sores. Before April 20, 2010, just one-tenth of one percent of fish had any of these abnormalities. Researchers believe these are the result of the chemicals found in the oil and the solvents used to ameliorate the spill.

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