The beautiful sandy beaches of Brittany, France, are world-renowned tourist destinations, attracting numerous Europeans during the summer. On the night of March 16, 1978, the 220,000-ton oil tanker Amoco Cadiz veered off course and struck a reef near Portsall, Brittany. As a result of the accident, 15,000 square kilometers of sea were covered with a thick oil slick, and 320 kilometers of pristine beaches were transformed into foul-smelling masses of oil. Just days after the disaster, millions of seagulls and sea ducks perished, their bodies coated in oil, and countless coastal creatures—including clams, crayfish, and sea urchins—died in massive numbers.