Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: 24th March 1989

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

On Good Friday March 24th,1989 in Alaska, Exxon Valdez an oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping company, struck a Reef which is 2.4km west of Tatitlek Alaska.

This collision led to the spillage of 37,000 metric tonnes of crude oil.

The oil spillage affected approximately 1,300 miles of wildlife-abundant shoreline.

Spilled oil damaged shoreline from Bligh Reef to Kodiak Island and beyond.

The estimated initial death toll of the spill included 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales, billions of salmon and herring eggs, and other intertidal plants and animals.

This is considered the world’s worst oil spillage in terms of environmental damage.

It’s also considered as the world’s second worst oil spillage in terms of volume of oil spillage after the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill.