Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Blogs | Writers | Paid | My Orble | Login

Biggest Oil Spills of All Time

May 19th 2010 02:21
As reported on Planet Green, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico may develop into one of the worst environmental disasters of all time. But how does it compare to the most devastating oil spills which have come before it?
Here we take a look at the current top 5 worst oil catastrophes of all time.


worst oil spills. Exxon Valdez
5. Exxon Valdez
In 1989, Exxon's oil tanker Valdez hit a reef in a remote region off the coast of Alaska spill, spilling 10.8 million gallons (or 250,000 barrels). The long cleanup process and infamous images of animals coated in oil helped to rally environmentalists working to reduce oil consumption in the U.S.



biggest oil slicks Nowruz Platform
4. Nowruz Platform
The incident in the Persian Gulf in 1983 happened at the height of the Iran-Iraq War when an oil tanker hit the Nowruz Field Platform, damaging the well underneath. The resulting leak of 1,500 barrels a day could not be capped for months because the platform was under constant attack by Iraqi planes.



Atlantic Empress oil tanker collision
3. Atlantic Empress
In 1979 The Atlantic Empress collided with the Aegean Captain ten miles off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, spewing 90 million gallons of oil.

The collision between the two fully loaded oil carriers took place during a tropical rainstorm. Both ships immediately caught fire and began leaking their contents in what would become the largest tanker-based spill ever recorded.


worst oil disasters - Ixtoc 1
2. Ixtoc 1
The Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well in the Gulf of Mexico which suffered a blowout in 1979 to become the second largest oil spill in history.

Like the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Ixtoc 1 underwater leak proved extremely difficult to plug. It took experts and divers some nine months to contain and cap the well, by which time 138 million gallons of oil had escaped.


gulf war oil spills
1. The Gulf War Oil Spill
Our number one spot goes to The Gulf War Oil Spill where hundreds of millions of barrels of crude oil poured in the Persian Gulf during the Kuwait War.

The incident occurred when Iraqi forces were withdrawing from Kuwait, sabotaging hundreds of wells, oil terminals, and tankers, in part to thwart the arrival of US forces. It stands as the biggest oil spill ever recorded with estimates at more than 350 million gallons!
161
Vote
   


JellyFish

February 12th 2010 02:18
Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. Some even live in fresh water. The best known jellyfish are the large and colourful varieties that live in coastal areas.

Jellyfish photos


Red Jellyfish


Jellyfish pictures


Jellyfish Art


Jelly Fish




*Images sourced from Damn Funny Pictures.
13
Vote
   


Icebreaker

October 30th 2009 10:59
Icebreakers are needed to keep trade routes open where there are either seasonal or permanent ice conditions.
Russian Nuclear Powered Icebreaker

In 2007 the nuclear-powered Russian ice-breaker NS 50 Years Since Victory was launched. It is the largest such ship in the world.
NS 50 Years Since Victory. Ice breaker

To pass through ice-covered water, an icebreaker uses its great momentum and power to drive its bow up onto the ice, breaking the ice under the immense weight of the ship. Because a buildup of broken ice in front of a ship can slow it down much more than the breaking of the ice itself, the speed of the ship is increased by having a specially designed hull to direct the broken ice around or under the vessel. The external components of the ship's propulsion system (propellers, propeller shafts, etc.) are at even greater risk of damage than the vessel's hull, so the ability for an icebreaker to propel itself onto the ice, break it, and clear the debris from its path successfully is essential for its safety.
50 let pobedy

Icebreakers are constructed with a double hull and watertight compartments in case of a breach. The ship's hull is thicker than normal, especially at the bow, stern, and waterline, using special steel that has optimum performance at low temperatures. The thicker steel at the waterline typically extends about 1 m above and below the waterline and is reinforced with extra internal ribbing, sometimes twice the ribbing of a normal ship. The bow is rounded rather than pointed, allowing the vessel to ride up over the ice, breaking it with the weight of the vessel. The hull has no appendages likely to be damaged by the ice, and the rudder and propeller are protected by the shape of the hull. The propeller blades are strengthened, and the vessel has the ability to inspect and replace blades while at sea
Russian Ice Breaker

A modern icebreaker typically has shielded propellers both at the bow and at the stern, as well as side thrusters; pumps to move water ballast from side to side; and holes on the hull below the waterline to eject air bubbles, all designed to allow an icebreaker stuck amidst thick ice to break free.
Arctic Icebreaker




*Image Source

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Icebreaker.

31
Vote
   


Crabs

February 2nd 2009 01:29
Crabs are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and armed with a single pair of claws. There are almost 7000 known crab species. They can be found in all of the world's oceans. Additionally, there are many freshwater and land crabs, particularly in tropical regions. Crabs vary in size from the pea crab, only a few millimetres wide, to the Japanese spider crab, with a leg span of up to 4 m.

Today's post features pictures of just a few crab species which grace our planet.


Crabs - Different varieties


Different sized crabs from the worlds oceans


strange and weird crabs


Blue Crab


crab with a face in its shell




*Images sourced from Damn Funny Pictures.

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article CrabYour text goes here.




49
Vote
   


Sea Serpent

December 8th 2008 11:36
Sea Serpent Picture
A sea serpent from Olaus Magnus's book History of the Northern Peoples (1555).

A sea serpent, also known as a sea dragon are creatures which for centuries have been believed to live in the deep dark depths of the ocean, occasionally rising to the surface to reek havoc on sea going vessels and their crew. Over the last few hundred years there have been over 1000 reported sightings of sea serpents, yet there is no actual hard evidence of their existence.
Sea monsters - Serpent in America
The first American sea serpent, reported from Cape Ann, Massachusetts, in 1639.

Sightings of sea serpents differ from those of the Loch Ness monster because rather than been seen by one person for a few seconds, some have been seen by hundreds of people over a few hours and were well documented in newspapers. The only problem is, all of these mass sightings occurred before photography was in common use.
Sea Serpent fossil fake
Albert Koch's 114-foot long "Hydrarchos

One of the most famous sightings is by Hans Egede, the national saint of Greenland. On 6 July, 1734 his ship sailed past the coast of Greenland when suddenly those on board
'saw a most terrible creature, resembling nothing they saw before. The monster lifted its head so high that it seemed to be higher than the crow's nest on the mainmast. The head was small and the body short and wrinkled. The unknown creature was using giant fins which propelled it through the water. Later the sailors saw its tail as well. The monster was longer than our whole ship'
Sea Serpent and monster sightings
Sea serpent reported by Hans Egede, Bishop of Greenland, in 1734.

Most cryptozoologists dismiss these reports as misidentifications or outright hoaxes. However there may be some truth to a few of them....
59
Vote
   


Underwater Sculpture Park

September 15th 2008 02:32
Jason de Caires Taylor is the creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park located in Moilinere Bay, Grenada. The sculptures are located in a clear shallow waterway providing ideal access for divers, snorkelers and glass bottom boats.
His sculptures have created artificial reefs, and explore the relationship between modern art and the environment. To find out more information, visit the Underwater Sculpture Park website here.

[ Click here to read more ]
37
Vote
   


Amazing Aquarium Setups

March 14th 2008 13:33
If you take the time with landscaping and buying the right plants plus equipment, you can create the most incredible aquarium environments imaginable. If you need more inspiration, you'll find it here.



[ Click here to read more ]
71
Vote
   


Underwater Photography

October 22nd 2007 11:55
Underwater imaging is considered an especially challenging area of photography, since it requires very specialized equipment and techniques to be successful. Despite these challenges, it offers the possibility of many exciting and rare photographic opportunities.

The primary obstacle faced by underwater photographers is the extreme loss of colour and contrast when submerged to any significant depth. The longer wavelengths of sunlight (such as red or orange) are absorbed quickly by the surrounding water, so even to the naked eye everything appears blue-green in colour. The loss of colour not only increases vertically through the water column, but also horizontally, so subjects further away from the camera will also appear colourless and indistinct. This effect is true even in apparently clear water, such as that found around tropical coral reefs


[ Click here to read more ]
74
Vote
   


The Great Blue Hole - Belize

August 10th 2007 12:33
The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off of the coast of Belize. It lies near the centre of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 60 miles from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is almost perfectly circular, over 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep. It was formed as a limestone cave system during the last ice age when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise again the caves flooded, and the roof collapsed.

This site was made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971 he brought his ship, the Calypso to the hole to chart its depths


[ Click here to read more ]
36
Vote
   


Pasha Bulker

August 6th 2007 11:50
The MV Pasha Bulker is a 76,741 tonne deadweight Panamax bulk carrier operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers Shipping company and owned by Japanese Disponent Owners. While waiting in the open ocean outside the harbour to load coal the Pasha Bulker ran aground during a major storm on June 8, 2007 on Nobbys Beach in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was refloated and moved to a safe location offshore on 2 July 2007.

Early on the morning of 8 June 2007, Newcastle Port Corporation radioed the 56 moored ships waiting off the coast to load coal to warn them to move out to sea to escape the approaching storm. The Pasha Bulker, along with 10 other ships, did not heed the warning. As the storm hit, the Pasha Bulker could not clear the coast and it became beached at 9:15am. The ship never called for tug boat assistance, ran aground with a fully operational engine room and still had both anchors stored in the hawsepipes leading some maritime experts to believe that proper precautions were not taken by the ship's captain


[ Click here to read more ]
45
Vote
   


Sunfish

March 12th 2007 11:20
The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest bony fish in the world. Specimens of ocean sunfish have been observed up to 3.3 m (11 ft) in length and weighing up to 2,300 kg (5,100 lb).

The ocean sunfish feeds on jellyfish and other gelatinous, soft bodied zooplankton, as well as small fish and other marine life


[ Click here to read more ]
79
Vote
   


Whales

January 27th 2007 06:51
Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young milk from mammary glands, and have some (although very little) hair. Whales breathe through blowholes, located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged. Some whales, such as the Sperm Whale, can stay underwater for up to two hours holding a single breath. The Blue Whale is the largest known mammal that has ever lived, and the largest living animal, at up to 30 m (93ft) long and 180 tons.

The photos below are of Right Whales, Humpback Whales and Orcas or Killer Whales. Many more great photos can be seen here
[ Click here to read more ]
70
Vote
   


Loch Ness Monster

July 11th 2006 00:59
The Loch Ness Monster, sometimes called Nessie or Ness is a mysterious and unidentified animal or group of creatures said to inhabit Loch Ness, a large deep freshwater loch near the city of Inverness in northern Scotland.
The earliest sightings of "Nessie" date back to the 6th century. There also was a large number of sightings around the 1930s. However, it wasn't until the 1960's that these stories became poopular. There is much evidence for and against the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, most mainstream scientists and other experts find current evidence supporting Nessie unpersuasive. Below are some of the more well known photos of Nessie.

[ Click here to read more ]
54
Vote
   


Fish Fossil

May 11th 2006 04:54
This fossilised fish is from the cretaceous period and was preserved in limestone. It was discoverd in southern Ontario, Canada.

Cretaceous Period Fish (from sxc.hu)
Cretaceous Period Fish (from sxc.hu)
63
Vote
   


Ian's Blogs

54432 Vote(s)
1459 Comment(s)
763 Post(s)
0 Vote(s)
0 Comment(s)
0 Post(s)
0 Vote(s)
0 Comment(s)
0 Post(s)
53001 Vote(s)
431 Comment(s)
776 Post(s)
48375 Vote(s)
193 Comment(s)
763 Post(s)
Jay's Blog (Member)
3021 Vote(s)
54 Comment(s)
39 Post(s)
Moderated by Ian
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]