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ern Argentina and southern Brazil, where shipping routes overlap
with the penguins’ migration route. The oil comes from the rou-
tine discharge of oil-contaminated ballast water and the washing of
ships’ tanks at sea. Researchers have documented this chronic oil-
ing of penguins in the region for over thirty years, and it is one rea-
son (along with overfi shing) for concern about the conservation of
the species.^10
In some spills, the source of the oil remains unknown. A “mys-
tery spill” off the coast of Santa Barbara in January 2005 harmed
more birds than did the wreck of the Prestige.^11 A veterinarian
who worked in both spills reported that the number of oiled birds
picked up in three days during the Santa Barbara rescue exceeded
the numbers found in three weeks in Spain. The oil could have
come from naturally occurring oil seepage below the sea fl oor. Nat-
ural seepage accounts for more than half of the oil in North Amer-
ican waters, or about forty-seven 47 million gallons a day.^12 Seeps
regularly trap and contaminate countless birds and marine mam-
mals. In some regions, such as coastal southern California, natu-
ral seepages account for the equivalent of a “massive year-round
oil spill.”^13
Oil spills are a dramatic and very visible form of ocean pollu-
tion. Images of water, beaches and birds smeared with thick, black
oil invoke the need to defi ne victims and villains, as well as the
desire to help. In the 1969 Senate subcommittee hearing, Hart-
ley explained the Santa Barbara event as a “blow up of the earth’s
crust”^ and blamed “Mother Nature” for “letting the oil come out.”^14
The American public, Congress, and scores of researchers thought
otherwise. Environmentalists blamed intentional short cuts and
policies that favored the oil company. Although the event was acci-
dental, circumstances set the stage for it to happen. The U.S. Geo-
logical Survey had allowed Union Oil to use shorter protective
casings than federal standards typically required. The state of Cal-
ifornia had even stricter standards than those set by the federal
government, but the rig stood more than three miles offshore, out-
side California’s jurisdiction. The event made a growing number
of people aware of environmental issues and galvanized grassroots