The tanker spilled more than 10 million US gallons , bbl or 37, tonnes [ 1 ] of crude oil over the next few days. The Exxon Valdez spill is the second largest in U.
The region is a habitat for salmon , sea otters , seals , and seabirds. The oil, extracted from the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field , eventually affected 1, miles 2, km of coastline, of which miles km were heavily or moderately oiled. Exxon Valdez was carrying The ship docked at the Valdez Marine Terminal [ 10 ] at p. Loading of crude oil was completed late in the day on the 23rd.
The tanker left the terminal at p. Captain Joseph Hazelwood retired to his cabin at p. Harbor pilot William Murphy and Third Mate Gregory Cousins were accompanied by a single tug for the passage through the Valdez Narrows β a journey of about 7 miles.
The pilot left the bridge shortly after the vessel left the narrows, at p. At this point, the captain was called to the bridge. Cousins helped the pilot disembark from the vessel, leaving the captain as the only officer on the bridge. At p. Exxon Valdez reported that the pilot had left. The third mate advised traffic control and decided to deviate from the predetermined traffic lane to avoid small icebergs; a common occurrence since the Columbia Glacier calved such icebergs nearby.
The vessel was placed on a due south course and set on autopilot. However, due to the long hours that the second mate had worked, Cousins was reluctant to wake him, and remained on duty. Cousins was the only officer on the bridge for most of the night, in violation of company policy. At around midnight on March 24 Cousins began to maneuver the vessel into the traffic lanes. At the same time, the lookout reported that the Bligh Reef light appeared far off the starboard bow at 45 degrees β this was problematic given that the light should have been off the port side.
