Oil and solid waste at sea
Among the visible effects of oil slicks at sea are oiled seabirds and contaminated beaches. Even though these effects are serious, they are of relatively short-term duration. Down on the sea bed, however, oil can remain for long periods. Solid waste can also remain longer in marine environments than it does on land.
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The environmental impacts of oil slicks at sea are among the most widely noted pollution problems. For the last few decades, several hundred slicks each year have been observed along the major shipping lanes across the Baltic and the North Sea.