Oil appears to be the substance that attracts the greatest attention of all pollutants entering the sea; dramatic oil tanker incidents make most of the headlines. Owing to large media coverage, tanker incidents seem to have the major responsibility for marine pollution. Since 1974, the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) has kept a database for all accidental oil spills from tankers, combined carriers and barges, excluding the ones resulting from acts of war. The Exxon Valdez incident2 appeared in the ITOPF’s list of 20 major oil spills since 1967, not because it was one of the 20 major oil spills but because it was so well known. This incident attracted an enormous amount of media attention as the largest oil spill to date in US waters, although it was in low scale in world terms. On a global scale the amount of oil causing marine pollution was low, but as it took place in an area with important fisheries and attractive wildlife its regional effect was very high.