Marine life in Gulf of Mexico has not fully recovered from 2010 BP oil spill, study finds

Summary

A new study published Monday in PNAS finds that marine life in the Gulf of Mexico dropped by about 60% after BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and has still not fully recovered. The April 2010 explosion of an offshore drilling unit about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast triggered what the report describes as the largest marine oil spill in history, releasing 134 million gallons of oil into the ocean. The disaster also killed 11 people and injured 17 others. According to the study, it led to "sudden, severe and persistent declines in the abundance" of marine life for more than a decade, affecting fish, cephalopods and other species.

Timeline

1. The Guardian

   22 Oct 2026, 12:00 UTCSource ↗

   The Guardian reports that a study published Monday in PNAS found marine life in the Gulf of Mexico plummeted by about 60% after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill and has still not fully recovered.