Visitors to the new exhibit at the South Florida Science Museum are greeted by large photo murals of the breathtaking Alaskan shoreline. But that majestic picture changes quickly.
``Darkened Waters: Profile of an Oil Spill`` outlines the events and consequences of the March 24, 1989, oil spill by the Exxon Valdez into Prince William Sound.
Visitors learn of the destruction caused by the spill through photographs, written comments and audio tapes of Alaskan residents talking about the spill.
Three water birds that died from exposure to the oil are displayed. ``Darkened Waters`` also includes the efforts by the Exxon Corp. and individuals to clean up the oil.
Visitors can hear Valdez Capt. Joseph Hazelwood when he reports by radio to the U.S. Coast Guard that the oil tanker has run into trouble and is leaking oil.
Hazelwood was not piloting the ship at the time of the accident and was later fired by Exxon. He was aquitted of a number of criminal charges, but was convicted of negligence.
Empty 55-gallon barrels, like those used to transport oil, are displayed. Visitors are able to smell crude oil. One of the drums contains a sample of oil and people can get a whiff of its acrid scent. The exhibit includes the type of protective clothing worn by workers as they tried to clean up the oil.
``Darkened Waters`` was created by the Pratt Museum in Homer, Alaska. The town is 260 miles southwest by water from the site of the spill, but some of the oil reached Homer`s shores.
Intended as a local exhibit, the Pratt`s Museum work proved so powerful that visitors encouraged museum director Betsy Pitzman to create a traveling exhibit. ``Darkened Waters`` debuted last fall in Oakland, Calif. It was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., before arriving at the South Florida Science Museum.
The traveling exhibit offers several ways for visitors to comprehend the size of the 10.8 million gallon spill. A movable diagram of the spill is attached to a U.S. map, allowing people to see how much of their own region might be covered with oil.
``It would have covered two of the Great Lakes,`` said Ellen Donovan, executive director of South Florida Science Museum.
The creators of ``Darkened Waters`` did an excellent job of relating the size and the impact of the spill, she said.
``Two of these spills would cover the entire east coast,`` said David Kerber, the museum`s curator of exhibits.
Alaskan high school students added to the displays. Science classes calculated these comparisons:
-- If the average kitchen faucet ran at full volume, it would take 9.7 years to equal the amount of oil spilled.
-- The spill is equal to the oil drained from 8.8 million cars.
-- If the oil spilled were converted to gasoline, it would take 15,800 years for it to be used by an average driver filling a car`s gas tank once a week.
The exhibit is very visual, so young people will get a lot out of it, Kerber said. For those who want to spend more time, much information is included on the costs and efforts to clean up the spill.
``Darkened Waters`` also includes an effective audio section, where native people of Alaskan speak about the impact of the oil spill. Listeners can hear several programs, each lasting several minutes.
``It was like a nightmare,`` said one woman who spoke of the impact to her village. People quit their normal jobs and left the area to work for the companies Exxon hired to clean up. The residents could not compete with outsiders who offered $16 an hour, she said.
The exhibit is sprinkled with comments from people with different viewpoints of the cleanup.
Kerber was struck by the comment from Nancy Hillstrand, a fisheries technician: ``It was like a war zone. We were getting 10 to 30 otters a day, all screaming. ... They were gouging their eyes out. There was so much pain.``
A statement from Exxon`s 1989 annual report reads: ``The cleanup last summer and the natural cleansing process this winter have led to remarkable improvement in the condition of the shoreline.``
On April 9, 1989, less than three weeks after the spill, Homer resident Donna Martin said: ``If there was one word to describe it, it was heartbreaking. We saw beaches coated black with solid, shiny tar, as if they had just been paved with wet asphalt. ... The oil seemed to collect in the most secluded fjords.``
Not all the effects were negative. Some people earned big money supplying planes, boats and equipment and filling other needs of the people who flooded into Alaska after the spill. Some Alaskans labeled the business people ``spillionaires.``
``Darkened Waters`` offers information on how dependent people are on petroleum products, as well as ways they can cut their consumption.
``I think people will see the beauty of Alaska, juxtaposed by the devastation,`` said Wendy Chamberlain, who handles public relations for the science museum. ``They can come away with the personal impact (of the spill). I`m hopeful visitors will take the exhibit in and see what they can do on a daily basis.``
DISASTER ON DISPLAY
-- WHAT: ``Darkened Waters: Profile on an Oil Spill,`` a new exhibit at the South Florida Science Museum.
-- WHERE: 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach.
-- WHEN: Through Aug. 9. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with extended hours Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
-- ADMISSION: Adults $5, seniors $4.50, children 4 to 12, $2.
-- INFORMATION: Call South Florida Science Museum, 832-1988.