OSLO (Reuters) – Some marine life thrives on oil bubbling up naturally from the seabed even though it cannot cope with giant single leaks like from BP’s ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico, experts say.

Natural seeps from thousands of spots from the Pacific Ocean to the North Sea account for about 45 percent of all oil entering the oceans in a typical year, according to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. The rest is from leaks caused by people.