Amoco Cadiz oil spill

The tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground off the coast of Brittany on March 16, 1978, as a result of a gear failure. Over the course of two weeks, the whole shipment, which included 4,000 tonnes of bunker fuel oil and 223,000 tonnes of light crude oil, was dumped into the sea. The pollutant is thought to have grown by up to five times as a result of the oil's rapid formation of an emulsion. 320km of the Brittany coastline were affected by the end of April 1978. Strong winds and rough seas prevented cleanup efforts, which led to some of the channel islands becoming contaminated as a result of the unfavorable weather conditions.

This tragedy caused the greatest loss of marine life ever documented as a result of an oil leak at the time of the disaster. In the two weeks that followed the incident, millions of dead mollusks, sea urchins, and other benthic species washed ashore. The spill caused the deaths of about 20,000 birds, with diving birds accounting for the majority of them. An estimated 9,000 tonnes of oysters were destroyed due to contamination and to maintain market trust, severely affecting oyster cultivation. Along with tourists, other shell and fin fisheries, seaweed collection, and others were badly impacted in the near term.

When: 1978
Where: English Channel
Oil spilt: 69 million gallons