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Greenpeace
The amount of oil spilled from the Japanese-owned ship in the vicinity of the lagoons and coastal areas of southeast Mauritius is relatively low compared to the major oil storms the world has seen in the past, but the damage it does what it will do will be enormous, experts say.
Unlike most previous offshore games, this has taken place near two environmentally protected marine ecosystems and the Blue Bay Marine Park Reservation, which is a wetland of international importance.
That it’s the location rather than the size of the game that worries most about the potentially serious environmental impact.
The beautiful turquoise waters of the blue lagoon outside the coastal village of Mahébourg in Mauritius, the backdrop for several Bollywood films, are now flying black and brown.
The ship, MV Wakashio, ran aground at the end of July at Pointe d’Esny, and oil began to leak last Thursday. Satellite images show the oil spill between the mainland at Pointe D’Esny and the island of Ile-aux-Aigrettes.
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EUROPEANE UNY, COPERNICUS
It is estimated that more than 1,000 tons of fuel leaked from the ship and into the lagoon. An enormous cleaning operation has been launched from the shore with many local people volunteering to help.
On August 7, almost two weeks after the shipwreck, the Mauritian government declared the incident a national emergency.
Hotspot for biodiversity
Mauritius is a hotspot for biodiversity with a high concentration of plants and animals unique to the region.
“The wind and the water currents are not helping. They are taking the oil to the areas that have vital marine ecosystems,” said Sunil Mokshananda, a former Greenpeace strategist on an island near the oil rig. game site, told the BBC.
The Mauritian marine environment is home to 1,700 species including about 800 species of fish, 17 species of marine mammals and two species of turtles, according to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Coral reefs, lakes and mangroves make Mauritian waters extremely rich in biodiversity.
“There are very few such marine areas with such rich biodiversity left on the planet. An oil spill like this will affect just about anything,” said Dr Corina Ciocan, a senior lecturer in marine biology at the UK’s University of Brighton.
“It’s not just about the bright oil stick you see on the surface of the water caused by the spill.
“There will also be soluble compounds of the oil that will dissolve in the water, a mousse-like layer below the surface of the water, and then very heavy residues on the bed – so that the entire marine ecosystem becomes influenced. “
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Greenpeace
Some of the coral reefs have already been polluted by the oil spill
The ship, MV Wakashio, is thought to have carried about 4,000 tons of fuel, of which nearly 1,200 tons have already been milled, according to operator Mitsui OSK Lines.
Despite bad weather, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said all oil has now been removed from the ship’s fuel reserves, although a small amount remains elsewhere on board. There had been fears that the ship might break, throwing even more oil into the sea.
Fuel was transferred to the coast by helicopter and to another ship owned by the same Japanese company, Nagashiki Shipping.
Why the ship came so close to the lagoon is not clear and is being investigated by police.
At a news conference, Akihiko Ono, executive vice president of Mitsui OSK Lines, “professionally” apologized for the loss and for “the major problems we have caused”.
Coral paint
One of the major concerns has been coral reefs in the lagoon – sometimes called the rainforests of the sea – because of the variety of life found in them.
About 25% of the fish in the ocean depend on healthy coral reefs, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They protect coastlines from storms and erosion. Coral reefs and marine ecosystems are the main pillars of Mauritian tourism which is a major part of the country’s economy.
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Sunil Mokshanand
Local communities have helped clean up the oil spill
“The toxic hydrocarbons released from spilled oil will bleach the coral reefs and they will eventually die,” said Professor Richard Steiner, an international oil spill consultant and marine biologist in Alaska, US.
Last year, Professor Steiner assisted the Solomon Islands government when a ship spilled oil over the coral reef off its coast:
“Although the oil spill was not great – but a few hundred tons of oil – the damage to the coral reefs there has been massive.”
Impact of past oil storms
Although previous oil spills around the world have not been in such environmentally sensitive areas, they have still significantly affected marine animals and plants.
In 2010, the Deep Water Horizon incident off the Gulf of Mexico saw about 400,000 tons of oil spills, resulting in the death of thousands of species, ranging from plankton to dolphins.
There were also other long-term effects on marine life, including impaired reproduction, reduced growth, load and disease.
“Researchers found skin readings on red snapper from the North Gulf in the months after the game, but the lessons became less frequent and worse by 2012,” wrote Dr. Steven Murawski, a marine ecologist at the University of South Florida, and Sherry Gilbert, assistant director of the university C-IMAGE Consortium in The Conversation magazine.
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Sunil Mokshanand
Mangroves that are essential for marine ecosystems are also contaminated by the oil spill
“There is other evidence of persistent and increasing exposures to hydrocarbons over time in economically and environmentally important species such as goldfish, gripper and hake.”
In 1978, a large oil rig ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France, leaking nearly 70 million gallons of oil into the sea.
About 200 miles of the French coast were polluted by the oilcake, and it killed millions of invertebrates, including mollusks and crayfish. The game also killed an estimated 20,000 birds, and polluted oyster beds in the region.
Experts say that despite best efforts, generally less than 10% of oil milled in incidents like this has been successfully cleaned.
France has sent a military aircraft with pollution control equipment from its nearby island of Réunion to assist in the Mauritanian game, while Japan has sent a team of six members to assist the French efforts. The Coast Guard of Mauritius and several police units are also on site in the southeast of the island.
“The Mauritanian government needs to do the environmental impact assessment as soon as they can,” Professor Steiner said.
“The impact is likely to last for years.”
