17 — this vegan life

2. | Talking of broadening horizons… Deepwater Horizon.

I watched Mark Wahlberg be a hero in the film Deepwater Horizon. I’m glad they made a Hollywood film about it, because it has enlightened me into just what the shit happened. Stuff I should have known and cared about when it happened back in 2010. But sometimes I need Mark Wahlberg to make a film before I take any notice.

Deepwater Horizon was an oil rig leased to BP. On April 20th 2010, an uncontrollable blowout caused an explosion that killed 11 crewmen. An inextinguishable fire raged and resulted in the largest oil spill in US waters. Gazillions of gallons of oil spewed out into the ocean until it was officially declared they’d completely and permanently sealed the oil well on September 19th.

Jesus. H. Christ on a bike. Someone call Alanis, I’ve got a new lyric for her. ‘It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife. It’s like a fire on an ocean, killing all the wildlife.’

Once I’d finished watching Mark Wahlberg I got to thinking. What happened next? Once the oil did stop spewing, what happened to the ocean and all its inhabitants? NOT GOOD THINGS.

According to Wikipedia, where I found myself in another wormhole after watching said film, the companies held responsible have forked out billions of dollars in penalties. But what good is financial compensation to dolphins and tuna and turtles and crustaceans?

The oil spill area was home to 8332 species. None of whom benefit from oil drilling. No, that’s just for us!

In 2013 it was reported that dolphins were dying in record numbers. Infant dolphins were dying at six times the normal rate, washing up dead on the shores of Mississippi. A study released in 2014 reported that tuna fish exposed to the oil spill were developing deformities of the heart and other organs.