""It was like floating through a forest," Cordes told me. "It was beautiful-a different planet." An elaborate ecosystem swirled around the coral stalks: brittle stars, glass sponges, sea urchins, shrimp, fish."
"By the time the spill was finally capped, three months later, seven hundred and eighty million litres of crude had billowed into the water-the largest marine oil spill in history."
"When his team returned to the deep-sea site, however, its brilliant colors were smothered under a blanket of fluffy gray scum. Mucus oozed out of the coral stems, a telltale response to trauma."
Offshore oil drilling threatens marine ecosystems, as demonstrated by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Erik Cordes, a deep-sea biologist, discovered a vibrant coral garden in the Gulf of Mexico, only to witness its destruction months later due to the spill. The incident released 780 million liters of crude oil, leading to severe damage to the coral ecosystem. The aftermath revealed that oil, combined with dispersants, caused significant harm to marine life, highlighting the dangers of offshore drilling.
Read at The New Yorker
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