An oil-soaked sea otter in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Once again, AlaskaÂ’s pristine waters have fallen victim to a devastating oil spill. On December 8, 2004, a Malaysian freighter, Selendang Ayu, ran aground in the Aleutian Islands after its engine failed in severe weather. Six humans were lost and at least 40,000 gallons of oil leaked into one of the worldÂ’s most remote and ecologically rich wildlife refuges, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. This was the worst oil spill in U.S. waters since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is home to a wide array of sea birds and marine mammals, and is part of the rich North Pacific fishery, which generates nearly $2 billion in revenue each year. Based on the legacy of the Exxon spill, we know this disaster will have a lasting impact on endangered marine species.
What’s clear from the tragedy in the Aleutians, is that Alaska’s shipping routes need stronger regulations in place. The Selendang Ayu was traveling one of the world’s most heavily trafficked routes – and ran aground in an area so remote that it was nearly impossible to rescue human victims in a timely manner and limit damage to threatened marine life.
Call upon Congress to require ships using Alaskan routes to meet minimum safety standards, and operate with well-trained crews and adequate resources to respond quickly to emergencies. Alaskan waters deserve at least these basic protections!
We signed the “Help Prevent Oil Spills In Alaska’s Coastal Waters!” petition!
# 17,327:
3:23 am PDT, Apr 7,Silky Wyld, Wisconsin
# 17,326:
10:48 am PDT, Mar 23,Suzie Gordon, New Hampshire
# 17,325:
2:07 am PDT, Mar 22,Art Deco, Maine
# 17,324:
11:03 am PDT, Mar 19,Ginger Geronimo, Alabama
# 17,323:
1:54 pm PDT, Mar 18,Laura Grover, Ohio
If we dont start doing something about all of the oil spills and pollution we are going to start loosing species and we will have a huge riot of people that the govt will have to deal with!!!
# 17,322:
12:28 pm PDT, Mar 18,Shannon Sultan, Wisconsin
# 17,321:
10:26 am PDT, Mar 17,Stacie Hicks, Ogden, UT, Utah
Basically, we need water to survive. How are we to have clean water if we continue to mistreat it.
# 17,320:
12:36 pm PDT, Mar 16,Roxie Schliesmann, Wisconsin
# 17,319:
3:42 pm PDT, Mar 15,BiLL Fowlie, Maine
# 17,318:
1:23 pm PST, Feb 25,Daniel Amon, South Carolina
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6:02 pm PST, Feb 17,Laura Zanoli, Italy
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4:06 pm PST, Feb 13,Melissa Lalonde, Canada
# 17,315:
3:06 am PST, Jan 20,Name not displayed, Spain
All companies working in this sector just care about profit making. Please take care on the impact this might have for future generations.
# 17,314:
1:13 am PST, Jan 6,Name not displayed, Wisconsin
# 17,312:
7:37 am PST, Dec 13,Karen Gray, Indiana
# 17,311:
9:12 am PST, Dec 10,P A, United Kingdom
its important as a teenager to see what i will have to deal with as a problem as i grow and become a adult and try and resolve the problem!!! People need to know how selfish they are and they need to knock it in to their thinck heads!!!!! How can you kill all these wonderful creatures its like putting oil on us and letting us die!!!!!!
# 17,310:
9:41 pm PST, Nov 27,Name not displayed, Maine
# 17,309:
8:21 pm PST, Nov 26,Julie M Glenn, Missouri
# 17,308:
10:09 pm PST, Nov 19,K. Blake, Texas
# 17,307:
12:04 am PST, Nov 17,Name not displayed, California
# 17,306:
7:12 pm PST, Nov 12,Danielle L., Colorado
Alaskan wildlife is beautiful, and should remain that way.
# 17,305:
6:08 pm PST, Nov 9,Alison Herbst, Indiana
# 17,304:
11:35 pm PDT, Oct 23,Robin Halloran, Alaska
For heaven's sake, animals are DIEING! Sea otters! An endangered species!
# 17,303:
9:37 am PDT, Oct 22,Kaylee H, Colorado
# 17,302:
9:54 am PDT, Oct 19,Charlotte Dowden, United Kingdom
