Oil slicks float on oceans and seas, covering them in a thick film of crude or refined petroleum oil. When freight ships carrying tens of thousands of tons of fuel crash, malfunction, or encounter harsh weather, they spill enormous amounts of oil into the water. Since oil and water don't mix, the oil spreads out into a layer that hovers, as one mass, on top of the ocean.
URL: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-oil-slicks.htm

Page describes: What is the effect of crude oil on wildlife, with emphasis on the method proposed to clean up the spill and assess the effectiveness of the method.
URL: From http://www.sci-journal.org

The paper briefly summarises the impact of oil spills of different components of the marine environment as well as the potential for natural recovery and man-made restoration/re-instatement measures, as envisaged under international compensation conventions.
URL: http://www.itopf.com/environ.pdf

Environmental pollution of the coast, inshore water and deep ocean is one of the important topical issue in the context of human health and global warming. The major pollutants like oil, sewage, garbage, toxic chemicals, pesticides, heavy metal, radioactive waste, thermal pollution, and eutrophication in coastal and marine environments, their characteristics and principal impacts are discussed in detail.
URL: http://niot.res.in/m5/MBiCWEB-5/Abtmbic/Articles/Marinepollution.pdf

A study by the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has revealed that snails, oysters and clams affected by toxic oil components, if eaten, can cause cancer in humans.
URL: http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=4941&CatID=5

Pollution of marine environment by crude oil or petroleum products arises from tanker accidents, deballasting operations, tank washing, offshore production, coastal refineries, municipal and industrial wastes, atmospheric fall outs and natural seepages.
URL: http://www.cpcb.nic.in/copocs26.htm

An alphabetical list of spill case histories included in the report along with a dictionary of key words. The key words comprise the dictionary from which shoreline types, resources at risk, etc. are chosen.
URL: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oilaids/spilldb.pdf

An oil spill is the release of oil (generally, petroleum) into the natural environment, usually the ocean. Oil means oil of any kind or in any form and includes crude oil, oil refuse, petroleum-related products or by-products, oil mixed in waste, oily ballast, and oily bilge water.
URL: http://www.answers.com/oil%20spills

An oil spill which occurs near a coastline will always impact more living organisms then one which occurs in the open ocean. This is simply because coastal areas are home to much more concentrated and diversified populations of marine life than the open ocean.
URL: From http://www.chennaionline.com

The Indian Coast Guard, which is supposed to keep strict vigil along the coast today claimed that the “oil”, which was traced off Mobor-Cavelossim beach was not an oil slick but tar balls sunk in the sea-bed a long time ago have appeared along the beach in view of the sea being rough.
URL: http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=072840