Torrey Canyon oil spill

One of the worst oil spills ever was that which occurred in Torrey Canyon. The supertanker SS Torrey Canyon capsized in 1967, spewing an estimated 25–36 million gallons (94–164 million liters) of crude oil off the south-west coast of the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force used planes to bomb the wreck in an effort to lessen the damage. The oil and other materials used to try and lessen the damage damaged hundreds of kilometers of shoreline in Britain, France, Guernsey, and Spain. The Torrey Canyon oil disaster, which still ranks as the worst in UK history, was the worst oil spill in the world at the time. Significant changes in marine legislation and how to deal with oil spills resulted from it.

More than 15,000 sea birds died and washed up on the coastlines, leaving beaches covered in knee-deep mud. It took some species decades to rebuild their numbers. However, only a small portion of the overall loss was represented by the early deaths of mammals and birds. The incident's consequences persisted for years, impacting everything from plankton and small invertebrates at the base of the food chain all the way up to fish, birds, and mammals, including mussels and clams. The British started a cleaning initiative that required using a lot of strong chemicals. But this simply served to exacerbate an already dire situation.

The idea was that the chemicals would break down the oil, allowing natural microorganisms to spread and eliminate it. The chemicals, however, destroyed whatever aquatic life they came into touch with, including fish, seaweed, and limpets. The harmful effects were further exacerbated as the chemicals accumulated on beaches before the tide carried it away. It took 13–15 years for the chemically affected areas to recover. Comparatively, this takes about five times as long in areas where the oil was naturally dispersed by wind and sea.

When: 1967
Where: Cornwall, England
Oil spilt: 36 million gallons