Darkened Waters: Profile of an Oil Spill

Darkened Waters: Profile of an Oil Spill (logo)

 

Exxon Valdez supertanker in Prince William Sound

Introduction

On March 24, 1989, the supertanker T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, spilling an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska. In hours the incident became the largest spill ever in the United States and ultimately perhaps the most destructive accidental spill in the world. Transported by winds and currents, the oil spread rapidly through the western part of Prince William Sound, with portions then moving into the Gulf of Alaska, and down the Peninsula past Kodiak Island.

 

Thick congealed oil to be cleaned upExxon's cleanup effort spanned four consecutive spring-summer periods, a massive campaign beginning in 1989 followed by diminished efforts through 1992. The cleanup was conducted under the direction of the U.S. Coast guard, with input from state and local governments and landowners. More than 11,000 people, 1,400 vessels, and 80 aircraft were deployed at the peak of the response during the summer of 1989. More oil - in the form of 18 million gallons of fuel - was consumed by cleanup equipment than was originally spilled. Neither the oil industry nor government agencies were adequately prepared to deal with large spills. What must we do, as communities and individuals, to prevent similar disasters from happening again?

 

The Exhibit

The traveling version of “Darkened Waters” recently completed it's venue at the Sternbere Museum at Hays, Kansas. It is presently in storage there, awaiting shipment back to Alaska.

Since 1991, the Pratt Museum's traveling exhibition “Darkened Waters: Profile of an Oil Spill” has visited sixteen sites throughout the United States, including the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. and the Burke Museum of Natural History in Seattle, Washington. To date, it has been viewed by more than one million people. Darkened Waters features 99 photographs, numerous graphics, objects from the spill and various interactive components. Photographs include the works of several nationally known photographers, notably Tony Dawson, Natalie Fobes and Ken Graham.

Installing the Darkened Waters exhibitThe exhibition examines the chronology of the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, initial responses, efforts to clean up and environmental impacts of America's worst oil spill. It also explores the impact of the spill on people's lives. Finally, Darkened Waters focuses on the continuing problem of oil spills and oil transportation worldwide and examines what people can do to make a difference.

Accompanying the exhibition is a Science Education Activity(SEA) Kit, which consists of two containers — a modified 55-gallon drum containing a variety of resources and a white PVC cylinder containing an interactive fabric material. The SEA Kit provides supplementary resource materials and activities that are cross-curricular and multi-sensory in nature and address a wide variety of ages and learning styles. Many can be used in conjunction with the exhibition as pre- or post-visit activities for school groups. An oil spill curriculum is included as a teacher resource. Also included in the SEA Kit are: sea otter pelt and skull, sea otter food samples, 3 videos, crude oil sample, puppets, oil spill cartoons, oil spill clean up suits and gloves, wooden tanker model, and petroleum model set.

Oil spill clean up suits and glovesAmong this exhibit's many underwriters are the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, the Prince William Sound Regional Citizen's Advisory Council, the Oil Spill Recovery Institute and the National Science Foundation. A thirteen member advisory committee provided a professional review of the exhibition's content. A summary of the exhibit consists of sixty-two freestanding panels and occupies approximately 1,500 to 2,000 feet but can expand to 3,000 square feet. The panels are organized into six conceptual groups: Introduction; A Huge Disaster; the Rush to React; a Shock to Nature; Living with the Spill; and, It's Not Over. The exhibit travels in 26 crates, ranging in weight from 145 pounds to 590 pounds. The exhibition crates total 11,120 pounds.

 

10 Years Later - It's Not Over

Oil pool and measuring toolThere were both immediate and lingering impacts of the oil spill on fish and wildlife resources and the lives of people in coastal communities. Ten years after the spill, organizations were still evaluating what happened, what has been learned, and what has been done to restore the natural resources and human services injured by the spill.

During 1999 a series of symposiums, exhibits, and programs took place in various communities throughout Alaska on the impacts of the oil spill.

 

Traveling Exhibition

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, the Pratt Museum's award-winning traveling exhibition opened in Seward on March 24, 1999. The national traveling exhibition was on display at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Seward Marine Science Education Center, adjacent to the new Alaska SeaLife Center through September 24, 1999. “Darkened Waters” was at the Sternbere Museum in Hays, Kansas where remained through December 2000.

A smaller version of this exhibit is on display each summer at the Pratt Museum in Homer, Alaska.

New information was added to the exhibit in 1999 that examines the state of restoration and recovery, relevant scientific research, status of spill area communities, and changes in spill prevention and response capabilities.

Updates incorporated information from:

  • The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
  • Prince William Sound Science Center
  • Spill area communities
  • Regional Citizen's Advisory Councils
  • Environmental groups
  • and the oil industry

Updating “Darkened Waters” and moving it to Seward was sponsored by the Oil Spill Recovery Institute and the Alaska Conservation Foundation.

 

guests in the Darkened Waters exhibitPratt Museum Reaction

At Homer's Pratt Museum, the board of directors and staff agreed that the museum should play a role in educating the public about the Exxon Valdez spill — what happened, what the scientific importance was, how people were affected by the crisis. The exhibit that was developed in Homer was well received, with many visitors suggesting it be shared with other parts of the country. The traveling exhibit, “Darkened Waters, Profile of an Oil Spill,” was the result.

 

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