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Home > Programs and Policy > Wildlife Conservation > Threats to Wildlife

Wildlife and Offshore Drilling

Offshore drilling poses serious threats to wildlife and natural habitats. The oiled wildlife ticker below shows the latest official counts of dead and impacted wildlife as a result of the BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April 2010.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Diaster - Oiled Wildlife: *The numbers above reflect only wildlife that has been recovered dead; actual numbers of dead wildlife are likely to be much higher.

Read the fact sheets below to learn more about the danger offshore drilling poses to critical species and habitats.

Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Sargassum
A common brown seaweed found in dense concentrations in the Gulf of Mexico is getting a lot of attention from scientists assessing the harm caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Sargassum, better known regionally as gulfweed or sea holly, floats in large mats or aggregations that function as biological oases in the nutrient-poor surface waters of the deep Gulf and play a significant role in providing food and shelter for a wide variety of marine life.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Manatees
The gentle and curious “sea cow” is one of Florida’s iconic animals, and one of the country’s most imperiled marine creatures, with a population estimated at only 5,000. While manatees reside year-round in the coastal waters of Florida, in warm months they can be found all along the Gulf Coast, and up the Atlantic coast as far as Massachusetts. In addition to the hazards posed by boats, cold weather, habitat loss, discarded fishing gear and red tides, manatees in the Gulf are now faced with a new threat: oil from the B P Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Coastal Wetlands
The wetlands bordering the Gulf of Mexico provide vital habitat for a remarkable variety of wild animals—including several threatened and endangered species. These same wetlands also serve as nurseries for many import ant commercial species of fish and shellfish, as well as acting as pollution filters, shoreline st abilizers and storm buffers. Oil from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster poses another challenge for crucial habitats already threatened by human-caused destruction and climate ch ange.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Pelagic Seabirds
The news is full of pictures of some of the victims of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster—oiled pelicans, gannets and shorebirds that have died, or in some cases, been rescued. But the list of birds in the path of the oil spill is long, and includes a number of “pelagic” species—those that spend most of their lives far out at sea, out of the public eye. The danger to them may be less visible, but it is no less real.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Coral Reefs
One of nature’s most spectacular creations, coral reefs are also among the most complex, diverse and economically valuable ecosystems in the world. They account for only one-tenth of one percent of the world’s surface area, yet they harbor at least 5 percent of its known species and 25 percent of all marine species—leading some to call them the rainforests of the sea. Sadly, coral reefs face myriad threats, including oil spreading across the Gulf of Mexico from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Arctic
Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas teem with an incredible array of wildlife, and are home to imperiled creatures such as polar bears, bowhead whales and spectacled eiders. Despite the importance and fragility of this region, Shell Oil Company plans to drill five offshore wells during the summer of 2011 when a suspension of their drilling permits expires. If a spill occurs in Arctic waters, it could be far more difficult to clean up than even the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Impacts of Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling
Over 20 species of whales and dolphins, 5 species of sea turtles, dozens of fish species, and hundreds of species of birds live and breed in the Lease Sale 181 area in the Gulf of Mexico - learn how offshore drilling impacts them.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Sperm Whales
The sperm whale is the most abundant large whale residing year-round in the Gulf of Mexico - one of the busiest, most industrialized bodies of water in the world. In addition to the hazards posed by shipping traffic, commercial fishing and fossil-fuel exploration and extraction, sperm whales in the Gulf are faced with a new threat: oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
The bluefin tuna is the sports car of the sea, from its sleek, muscular, metallic blue and silvery white body to the hefty price it commands - a 500-pound specimen sold at a Japanese fish market for $175,000 earlier this year. Imperiled by the fishing pressure that accompanies such prices, the western Atlantic bluefin now faces a new threat: the heart of its breeding range lies in the path of the oil slick from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Refuges
The national wildlife refuges bordering the Gulf of Mexico are havens for a remarkable variety of birds, sea turtles, marine mammals and other wildlife—including at least 27 threatened or endangered species. Many of these refuges, and the native plants and animals they harbor, are in the path of spreading oil from BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill. This disaster poses another challenge for a crucial set of protected areas that already faces serious problems.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Sea Turtles
The waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Florida’s Atlantic coast are home to five species of sea turtles: green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead and Kemp's ridley. All are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The oil gushing from BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig poses several additional threats to the already precarious existence of these rare creatures.
The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Disaster
A Month of Failures - And Plans for the Future
On the 30-day anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that has led to what may be one of the worst environmental disasters this country has ever seen, Defenders of Wildlife takes a look at 20 ways the oil industry and our federal government have failed to keep us safe from the dangers that offshore oil and gas drilling poses to wildlife and coastal habitats.
Wildlife and Offshore Drilling: Brown Pelicans
The brown pelican is currently found along the coastlines of all five states in the Gulf of Mexico, and it is the state bird of Louisiana, in the path of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Once listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, this coast al bird was only recently deemed recovered - and it is now imperiled again, this time from oil.
Impacts of Outer Continental Shelf Drilling
There are over 5600 offshore oil and gas platforms in the United States and over 27,000 miles of pipelines in the areas of the Gulf of Mexico already open to drilling. These major industrial facilities have tremendous impacts on the ocean floor, water and air quality, and fragile marine ecosystems.