If you are anything like me then you have always wanted to play in the mud. The only problem is mud is pretty thick and makes it difficult to see when it covers the face. Mud covering human bodies is similar to crude oil in ocean water covering fish and the surrounding waters. Crude oil in ocean water comes from ship accidents. This type of oil is dark and makes it difficult for fish to see underwater. It also makes them hyperactive. Imagine if all the air suddenly turned black. It would make it extremely difficult for you to see your surroundings. If you cannot see, then you cannot escape danger. Danger for fish include predators who feast on them. In the presence of predators, some fish reduce their activity by swimming slower or staying still to avoid getting noticed. Therefore, hyperactivity and low visibility caused by crude oil is extremely dangerous for fish since it could result in running into potential predators and getting eaten.
Scientists like Alexis Khursigara and her colleagues wanted to find evidence that crude oil does indeed affect fish’ ability to escape predators. They did this by performing lab experiments using a fish called red drum and a predator known as pinfish. The scientists placed red drum together with pinfish in one tank containing a mix of water and crude oil as well as another tank filled with clean water. After a while, they counted the number of surviving fish in each tank. In the results, the scientists found that the fish in the tank that had crude oil were more hyperactive and travelled long distances. They also got eaten more by predators.
Think back to when you had a sugar rush. You probably ran around the house carelessly with your mom or dad angrily chasing after you. This experience was the same for fish exposed to crude oil. The only difference between these experiences is that not paying attention in the animal kingdom can cost you your life. For instance, predators ate more of these inattentive fish in crude oil, leaving few survivors. These results provided evidence that crude oil did indeed affect a fish’s ability to run away from a predator. This shows just how important it is to keep our ocean waters clean.
References
Khursigara, A. J., Rowsey, L. E., Johansen, J. L., & Esbaugh, A. J. (2021). Behavioral Changes in a Coastal Marine Fish Lead to Increased Predation Risk Following Oil Exposure. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(12), 8119–8127. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.0c07945
