Oil spills from Iran war may contaminate water and food supply and threaten protected wildlife refuge

Oil spills in the Persian Gulf are visible from space after Iranian and U.S.-Israeli air strikes hit oil facilities and tankers across the region, satellite images reveal.

One image, taken April 10, shows oil leaking into the waters off Iran's Lavan Island and heading toward Shidvar Island, a protected wildlife refuge known as "Iran's Maldives." Another snap from April 6 captures an oil trail leaving Kuwait's Port of Shuaiba, located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Kuwait City, after Iran said it targeted energy and petrochemical facilities in the Gulf countries April 5. And on March 18, April 2 and April 7, huge oil spills were visible in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran's Qeshm Island, which houses key military and civilian infrastructure.

These oil spills will likely affect the Persian Gulf's marine life and the filtering systems of desalination plants, which supply clean, drinkable water to almost 100 million people in the region, CNN reported.

The oil spill off Lavan Island, in particular, is a "major environmental emergency" due to its proximity to Shidvar Island, Wim Zwijnenburg, a project leader in humanitarian disarmament at the Dutch peace organization PAX, told CNN. Shidvar Island is an uninhabited coral island that hosts seabird colonies and turtle nesting grounds. At least five locations on Lavan Island have been hit by U.S.-Israeli forces, Zwijnenburg said, including an oil refinery.

Pools of oil off Qeshm Island measured more than 5 miles (8 km) long, threatening the entire marine ecosystem, from microorganisms to dolphins and whales. It also includes fish, which thousands of people living along the coast of Iran rely on for income and food, CNN reported.

Oil spills devastate marine life by coating animals in harmful sludge, destroying the water repellency of birds' feathers and the insulating effects of mammals' fur, which can cause hypothermia. It also induces poisoning, leading to mass die-offs. The 1991 Gulf War oil spill, which was caused by Iraqi forces intentionally dumping 6 to 8 million barrels of crude oil into the Persian Gulf, harmed or killed an estimated 114,000 animals, including birds, turtles, bottlenose dolphins and whales.

The Persian Gulf is home to dugongs (Dugong dugong), green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Arabian Sea humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).

It's unclear exactly how much damage these oil spills will do, and there may be more on the horizon, especially if the warring parties continue to target ships carrying oil. Dozens of oil tankers filled with a total of around 5 trillion gallons (20 billion liters) of crude oil are currently trapped in the Persian Gulf, waiting to exit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Due to the conflict, it's unlikely that the existing oil spills will be cleaned up in time to prevent the worst impacts, Nina Noelle, a spokesperson for Greenpeace Germany, told CNN.