One of the worst environmental human-caused disasters occurred shortly after the Exxon Valdez left the southern terminus of the Alaska Pipeline on March 23, 1989. The actions of Captain Joseph Hazelwood have been scrutinized heavily and he was acquitted of the charge of being drunk at the time. But what is not disputed is that, within two hours of the departure of the vessel, Hazelwood left the wheel house in the charge of a Third Mate and another member of the crew. These two had been scheduled to receive their mandatory 6-hours off-duty before beginning a 12-hour shift. But because of a scheduling mixup, they went back on duty and were bleary-eyed at the helm when the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef shortly after midnight on March 24th, less than 3 hours into its journey to Long Beach, California. It is quite likely that, had the intended schedule been kept and had these men received the proper time-off, this rookie error would not have occurred and 10.9 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude would not have been dumped into the waters and pristine coastline of Prince William Sound, resulting in the deaths of 500,000 seabirds, at least 1,000 sea otters, 300 harbor seals and 22 killer whales, and the decimation of countless other fish and coastal life.