The Exxon Valdez Oil spill was a major oil spill that occurred on March 1989 in William Sound Alaska. A oil tanker ship struck a coral reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the water of the Prince Williams Sounds. There was over 1,990 kilometers of shoreline contaminated and eventually covered 11,000 square miles of the ocean. It also killed many animals in the immediate days following the spills; 2,000 sea otters, 302 harbor seals, about 250,000 seabirds, a couple dozen wales, and killed thousands of fish eggs. This oil spill is known as one of the worst human-caused marine disasters, even though it is not one of the biggest, but because of the lasting damage it caused to the environment because it the Prince of William sound serves as a curtail habitat for many different types of life. Many organizations and groups established cleanup teams and areas to clean up and rehabilitate the animals and wildlife that was harmed. Other methods were used to get the oil out of the water. They tried three different methods; burning, mechanical cleanup, and chemical dispersants. A boom was placed into the water and moved slowly through the water then taken out and the oil was ignited and burned up. Nothing was endangered because it was burned a safe distance away but due to the unfavorable weather additional burning was not attempted. Mechanical cleaners that included things like skimmers were used but were not always readily available and they tended to be clogged by the thick oil and repairing them took to much time. Having the transfer the oil into permeant containers was difficult and the bad weather also affected the effort. The applications of dispersants caused controversy; there was limited amount of dispersants and no applications aircraft at first. When the dispersants would be put in the water, they were dependent on the waves to mix it with the oil