text: Oil spill - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Kelp at an oil spill
  Special barriers limit the spread of the oil spill
  Oil-covered bird, the result of an oil spill
  Oil from ships and oil tankers can spill onto the sea water and pollute the water. Oil poisons and harms the aquatic organisms and sea birds. The fur of sea mammals and the feathers of sea birds can be damaged by the oil. The animals may suffer, and the effect may be fatal for them. When birds get soaked in oil they can't fly and they can't go in water.
  The pollution of the environment with crude or mineral oil or their by-products is called an oil spill. Most often the term is used for marine environments, where coasts, lakes, rivers and oceans are polluted. There are three main ways to combat such pollution once it has occurred:
  Use of barriers to limit the pollution to a given zone.
  Skimming of the oil with specially constructed ships
  Chemical dispersion of the oil
  Controlled burning of the oil
  Bioremediation, using microogranisms that consume the oil or oil-related products
  An oil spill can not only affect the coasts, lakes, rivers and oceans but also the environment and the ecosystems. Many animals could get injured and later die without help. Also all the vegetation could be affected by the oil.