What are Oil Slicks?
Oil slicks float on oceans and seas, covering them in a thick film of crude or refined petroleum oil. When freight ships carrying tens of thousands of tons of fuel crash, malfunction, or encounter harsh weather, they spill enormous amounts of oil into the water. Since oil and water don’t mix, the oil spreads out into a layer that hovers, as one mass, on top of the ocean. Thousands of oil slicks result from massive oil spills every year. Oil slicks are difficult to control or contain and even more challenging to clean up. Once formed, an oil slick becomes an unpredictable phenomenon. It might end up spreading, migrating, thinning or thickening, moving towards land or further out to sea. An international community of activists, organizers, and technical developers has formed to identify, manage, and eliminate the devastating oil slicks.
