Over 22,000 tonnes of oil have been released into UK waters by the oil and gas industry in the last five years, according to new FOI data obtained by Oceana and Uplift. The data coincides with the launch of In Deep Water, the first-ever comprehensive review of how the oil and gas industry is damaging UK seas. UK waters are well known for their abundance of large whales, dolphins and seabirds, some of our most endangered species. The In Deep Water report and FOI data reveal that these species are subject to a constant flow of small oil spills, which has the potential to kill sea life and to significantly impact the life chances and reproductive success of others. In Deep Water, produced by marine conservation organisation Oceana, and climate campaign group Uplift, also features groundbreaking new satellite imagery which reveals for the first time the chronic oiling of UK waters from space. Environmental watchdog SkyTruth used a deep-learning artificial intelligence (AI) model to scour thousands of daily satellite images to chart multiple oil slicks across the North Sea.
