Ecological Catastrophe Unveiled: A Comprehensive Review of the Impacts of Oil Spills on Marine Ecosystems

Oil spills are among the most serious forms of marine pollution and result from offshore oil exploration, tanker transport and other shipping activities. This review synthesises the current literature on the biological impacts of oil spills across trophic levels, from primary producers, corals and invertebrates to fishes, amphibians, reptiles, seabirds and marine mammals. Immediate impacts include mass mortality and the destruction of habitats and food webs, whereas long-term impacts include reproductive failure, genotoxic damage and ecosystem recovery that can take many years, as shown by the Exxon Valdez, Deepwater Horizon, Prestige and Hebei Spirit spills, among others. Recovery varies among species and habitats, and slow recovery is most often reported for cold-water corals, intertidal molluscs and Arctic and sub-Arctic coastal zones. Coastal communities and clean-up workers can also be affected physiologically and genotoxically. Approaches to oil spill detection and response, including remote sensing, deep-learning-based slick detection, the main response methods (physical recovery, chemical dispersants, in-situ burning and bioremediation) and phytoremediation, are briefly discussed. The review highlights knowledge gaps, particularly the need for long-term, multi-species monitoring data and for better information on sublethal effects, and emphasises the need for a coherent approach to the prevention, mitigation and remediation of damage caused by the growing international marine oil trade.