Question

All BUT ONE situation is an expected effect of the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That is:

A) Tar balls buried beneath beach sand influence crustacean movements, habitats, and breeding patterns.

B) The rapid extinction of top-level consumers in the Gulf food webs, such as sharks, dolphins, and sea turtles.

C) Scrubbing efforts of surrounding wetlands interfere with an areas natural ability to regenerate plant growth.

D) Deep sea oil plumes serve as a food source for bacteria, and in turn, the lower oxygen levels produce deep sea dead zones.

Answer 1

B is correct

The rapid extinction of top-level consumers in the Gulf food webs, such as sharks, dolphins, and sea turtles. There will be some initial death after an oil spill, but not the rapid extinction of animals. We would expect to see slow, long-term effects of a large oil spill; effects that are the result of lingering oil under the sand, in marshes and wetlands, and covering undersea coral reefs.

Answer 2

The answer is B) The rapid extinction of top-level consumers in the Gulf food webs, such as sharks, dolphins, and sea turtles.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the largest in the history of the oil industry. The oil spill created a large layer of floating oil patch over the gulf waters. This layer of oil blocked the exchange of gases like oxygen in the water. The top-level consumers like the dolphins, sharks and sea turtles that need to surface to breath fresh air got coated with the oil and perished.