Dec 12, 2016 12:03 PM EST By Chris Brandt, UniversityHerald Reporter

When we think about oil spills, the first thing that comes to mind is the black blob covering miles and miles of the ocean and killing the life that is in it. However, 'invisible' oil spills are ruining the ocean.

Invisible oil spills are what the US Coast Guard classifies as minor or moderate because they are small in volume. According to Wired, these small oil spills are considered insignificant that's why they don't get a lot of media attention, less assessment, less regulation, and less clean-up funding.

Although oil leaks have been naturally happening since the beginning of time, they are not harmful to the ecological system of the ocean. In fact, most life-forms have already adapted to it. However, leaks caused by off-shore drilling is a different story. No matter how small they might be classified, they still have a significant effect on nature and also into our future.

Air-breathing sea creatures, like whales and dolphins, can develop pneumonia-like diseases because of these oil slicks. Ocean plants will not be able to photosynthesize because oil is covering the surface and sunlight has a hard time passing through the grungy film. Moreover, it can also kill fish larvae.

According to SkyTruth, a non-profit environmental watchdog, there are more than 30,000 of these "small" oils spills each year, and that is just an estimate. A study looking into these 'invisible' oil spills has revealed that the volume of oil that is spilled every year is, in fact, 13 times higher than which is reported. There are new technologies that detect and measure these oil spills; however, they can also malfunction.

These 'invisible' oil spills are coming from the old and rusty oil rigs that are just patched rather than rebuilt. Jonathan Henderson, founder and president of the environmental watchdog Vanishing Earth, said that these old oil rigs are 'ticking time bombs.'

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