Discussion:
Our principle prediction: Crayfish mortality will increase with increasing concentrations of oil (we predicted this because of what is seen with oil spills)
Comparison to the Daphnia experiment
What was different about our results and what was similar
Comparing the water oil levels to other oil spills and the observed reactions (compared to ours and the articles that we found)
Ex: Wyoming Wetlands
Ex: Marshes in Louisiana
Meaning of the study: most oil spills will lead to mortality at most concentrations eventually over time (whether small or large)
Solutions:
Faster cleanup (less time for the oil to kill the animals)
Lower concentrations can buy more time (getting rid of some oil is better than not getting rid of any)…show more content… The authors tested various concentrations of diesel oil, benzene A-76, benzene A-93, and crude oil, each at 23 and 28 degrees celsius. These tests were run over a period of a few days each, and mortality as well as paralysis of the Daphnia magna organisms were recorded. Additionally, effects were measured on the subsequent generations of Daphnia magna that were from parents living in contaminated water. The researchers also went into detail of the fractions of oil present in the water, such as the amount of vaporising oil fractions compared to the sorption fraction. Their results showed that the type and concentration of oil, and specifically the solubility of each oil, correlated with mortality and paralytic effects on the organisms (Ratushnyak et…show more content… Through our results and data it is easy to observe that oil has a negative effect on the survival of crayfish and possibly other aquatic organisms. We observed that the crayfish in higher concentrations of oil had higher mortality rates at earlier times than the lower concentrations. This suggests that higher concentrations of oil in the water will result in greater wildlife mortality, and therefore efforts should be made to reduce oil concentrations after spills even if 100% cleanup is infeasible. Our data also shows that mortality rates increased over time and that at 70 hours most of the crayfish in all concentrations were dead. This demonstrates that time plays a factor in crayfish mortality and oil spill cleanup should be attempted in a timely
