text: how do people clean up oil spills in the ocean or seas? what i want to know is, if there is an oil spill on the sea what measures are taken to clean it up. i know they put a rim around the spill to stop its expanding. but how de they pick it up? is there any special technology involved? in general, lighter refined petroleum products such as diesel and gasoline are more likely to mix in the water column and are more toxic to marine life, but tend to evaporate relatively quickly and do not persist long in the environment. heavier crude or fuel oil, while of less immediate toxicity, can remain on the water surface or stranded on the shoreline for much longer. oil from the exxon valdez and gulf war oil spills, while weathering over time, has persisted along the shoreline for years after the spill.