The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view, they were both eaten by a killer whale.
The Times of India reported after the Exxon Valdez clean up that sea otters damaged in the incident were fed fresh lobster flown in at a cost of US$500 per day per otter.
Compensation offered by Union Carbide in a 1989 agreement with the Indian government (with no consultation of survivors) gave those injured an average of some $500 to pay for a lifetime of medical care. Averaged over the 21 years they have so far been suffering this comes to about £0.04p, or US¢7 a day.
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