several different species of food fish species. The oil washed ashore, 30 cm (1 ft.) deep in some places, as it was pushed north by prevailing winds and currents until it crossed the Texas border two months later and eventually coated almost of US beaches. The beach that caused most international concern in Mexico was Rancho Nuevo, a key nesting ground for critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles which had already moved inland in their hundreds to lay eggs. By the time the eggs hatched, the oil had reached the shore. Fishing was banned or restricted by Mexican authorities in contaminated areas north and south of the well. Fish and octopus catches dropped by 50 to 70% from the 1978 levels. Other species that had longer life spans took longer to recover, and it took until the late-1980s that the population of Kemp's ridley turtles, started recovering. Ridley turtles only produce a few hundred eggs each year, in contrast with the millions of eggs that shrimp lay. There is much less information on the impact of the Ixtoc 1 spill on benthic species (bottom dwellers). The best studies were on the Texas coast over 1000 km from the spill. Massive kills can occur when oil reaches the benthos in sufficient quantity. The only indication of a massive kill may be the remains of the dead organisms, but if they lack hard parts there will be little evidence. A report prepared for the US Bureau of Land Management concluded concerning the spill's effect on US waters: Despite a massive intrusion of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants from the Ixtoc 1 event into the study region of the South Texas Outer Continental Shelf during 1979-1980, no definitive damage can be associated with this or other known spillage events (e.g., Burmah Agate) on either the epibenthic commercial shrimp population (based on chemical evidence) or the benthic infaunal community. Such conclusions have no bearing on intertidal or littoral communities, which were not the subject of this study. See also List of oil spills Notable offshore well blowouts Deepwater Horizon oil spill Ocean Ranger Piper Alpha References External links Photo gallery by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. TV news reports from the 1970s regarding the Ixtoc spill and comparisons with the BP spill of 2010 Oil spills in Mexico Oil fields in Mexico 1979 industrial disasters 1979 in Mexico Industrial fires and explosions in Mexico