Tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz are spilling oil into the Persian Gulf

A dark, muddied patch of blue, incongruent with the rest of the ocean; a winding thread of silvery white; a reflective metallic sheen — these are some of the telltale signs on a satellite image that oil may be leaking into the water. Experts have identified these and many other visual signatures in the Strait of Hormuz , leading them to conclude there's an environmental crisis playing out amid the US-Iran war , as tankers are struck by missiles, set on fire or sunk. One recent example: In June, a Russian tanker carrying about 800,000 barrels of oil stranded off the coast of Oman, causing a major spill.