Cormorants recover in a Saudi pool after the first gulf war. Iraqis retreating from Kuwait damaged nearly 800 oil wells, poisoning 300 miles (483 kilometers) of coast and 600 square miles (966 square kilometers) of the Persian Gulf, including the breeding grounds of sea-faring cormorants and grebes. Six months after the destruction, coastlines were still black and desolate, proving that recovery would be slow for the fragile ecosystem.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Persian Gulf Pollution: Assessing the Damage One Year Later," February 1992, National Geographic magazine)