Spilling Oil News
Hello Prof! Hello friends!
In the early part of the semester, Dr Chen Mengli covered marine pollution and the devastating episodes of oil spills such as Deepwater Horizon spill and Torry Canyon Spill. Today, we will shed light to recent oil spill events.
On 25 July this year, an oil spill hit the lagoons and coastal areas of Mauritius’ Southeast coast. The oil spill was caused by the Japanese-owned ship – MV Wakasihio – when it struck an irreplaceable coral reef and ran aground (Singh, 2020). The ship started leaking heavy fuel oil over the span of weeks, coating long stretches of ocean, mangroves and lagoons (Greenpeace, 2020). This video encapsulates the tragedy that befallen Mauritius.
Although the oil spilled is relatively low compared to big oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon, the damage done will be long-lasting as it took place near environmentally protected marine ecosystems and the Blue Bay Marine Park reserve. Dr Corina Ciocan, a lecturer in marine biology at University of Brighton, noted that these wetlands are of international importance, especially since there are very few marine areas with comparable rich biodiversity left on the planet. The effects of oil spill at the Mauritian waters is not only surface-level; the soluble compounds from the oil will dissolve in the waters, affecting the entire marine ecosystem. Furthermore, the toxic hydrocarbons released from the oil spill will bleach existing coral reefs in the lagoon. This will escalate into bigger environmental impacts, as coral reefs – also known as rainforests of the sea – play a huge role in the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem (Singh, 2020). Not only do 25% of fish in the ocean depend on coral reefs, they also have a purpose of protecting coastlines from heavy storms and erosion. Aside from its environmental purpose, coral reefs and the marine ecosystem that depends on them are major pillars of Mauritian tourism. Thus, such marine pollution, even though it was not a large-scale oil spill, will have damaging impacts on Mauritius as a whole.
Other than Mauritius, Carribean is also facing an impending crisis, whereby an oil tanker in the Gulf of Paria is tilted to the side, risking a major oil spill. Carrying about 80 million gallons of Crude oil, it could lead to a catastrophic environmental disaster that threatens the entire Southern Carribean (Smith, 2020). It would be five times more damaging than the Exxon Valdex oil spill in Alaska, which is the second worst oil spill in history next to the Deepwater Horizon. Putting in comparison, there were 11 million gallons of oil released in the 1989 Exxon Valdex spill, which approximately covers twice the size of Rhode Island (Smith, 2020). Now Imagine 80 million gallons!
There are urgent calls for action by environmental activists, as seen in this video whereby ‘Fishermen and Friends of the Sea’ have raised awareness on the sinking ship. They took it to Twitter as well, garnering over 4.4 million views. If the tanker sinks, the ecological harm and economical damage would be cataclysmic. The coral reefs in Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago are extremely foundational to the health of coral ecosystems across the entire Carribean as other coral systems are dependent on nutrients and healthy bacteria from these source corals (Nishan, 2020). The major oil spill would lead to long term genetic damage to the corals, which are already affected by climate change. Furthermore, oil spills and associated harmful chemicals such as PAHs will cause long-term genetic impact on coastal ecosystems, which would result in long-term collapse of healthy marine ecosystems
Does the prospect of a widespread oil pollution scare you? Do you think the government would be pressured enough to take strong actions in ensuring that the oil tanker does not sink? It is undoubtedly the worst case-scenario to have, especially given the fact that climate change has already brought disastrous burdens to the coral reefs around the world. Let us know other oil spills that you know about in the comments below!
References
Greenpeace (2020). The Mauritius Oil Spill Cannot Be Cleaned Up, but Damages Must Be Paid. [online] EcoWatch. Available at: https://www.ecowatch.com/mauritius-oil-spill-damages-2648116836.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1 [Accessed 9 Nov. 2020].
Nishan, D. (2020). Caribbean Threatened By 1.3 Million Barrels Of Oil From Sinking Oil Tanker. Forbes. [online] 21 Oct. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/10/21/caribbean-threatened-by-13-million-barrels-of-oil-from-sinking-oil-tanker/?sh=7879ef321c3b [Accessed 9 Nov. 2020].
Singh, N. K. (2020). Why the Mauritius oil spill is so serious. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53754751 [Accessed 9 Nov. 2020].
Smith, P. (2020). Stricken Venezuelan oil tanker raises fears of Caribbean ecological disaster. [online] NBC News. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/stricken-venezuelan-oil-tanker-raises-fears-caribbean-ecological-disaster-n1243966 [Accessed 9 Nov. 2020].