Mauritius blue sea blackened, oil spill is very serious

An oil spill has been reported from a ship owned by Japan near the coastal areas of southeastern Mauritius and near the lagoon.

Although this is not as big an event as the oil spill has happened in the world before, but experts say that the damage caused by it will be very large.

The reason for this is that there are two protected marine ecosystem and Blue Bay Marine Park Reserve near the oil spill site. This Blue Bay Marine Park Reserve is a wetland of international importance, with many species of sea creatures and plants.

Even though the oil spill has not happened very far, it has happened in a place that has raised concerns about a potentially serious impact on the environment.

In many Bollywood films, you see a very clear and beautiful blue sea lake.

It is actually a lagoon near Meheberg, a coastal village in Mauritius. But now the water of this magnificent blue lagoon has turned black and brown.

Towards the end of July, a Japanese ship, MV Vakashio, was stranded at the Point d’Esni and oil began leaking from that ship last Thursday.

The oil spill appears in satellite photos from the mainland of Point d’Esni to the island of I-Locks-Egrets.

It is believed that more than a thousand tonnes of fuel has leaked from the ship to the lagoon. A big campaign is being carried out to clear this oil, in which many local people are helping.

The Mauritius government declared the incident a national emergency on August 7, almost two weeks after the shipwreck.

Biodiversity Hotspot

Mauritius is full of biodiversity. There are different types of organisms and plants.

Former Greenprice strategist Sunil Mokshananda is on an island near the oil spill site. He told the BBC, “The wind and water waves are not helping, rather it is pushing the oil towards the areas where there is an important marine ecosystem.”

According to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the marine environment of Mauritius is home to 1,700 kinds of species, including about 800 types of fish, 17 types of marine mammals and two species of turtles.

Coral reefs, sea grasses and mangroves – make Mauritius waters exceptionally rich in biodiversity.

Dr. Corina Ciochan, a senior lecturer in marine biology at Britain’s University of Brighton, said, “There are very few marine areas with such rich biodiversity left on the planet. Such oil spills affect almost everything here Will put.

“Because of the oil spill that you are seeing on the surface of the water you have a smooth layer of oil, the problem is not only the same, but many soluble elements will also come out of the oil, which will get into the water. The layer will be formed and the layer will become very thick. The entire marine ecosystem will be affected. “

According to operator Mitsui OSK Lines, the MV Vakashio ship was carrying about four thousand tons of fuel, of which around 1200 tons have so far percolated.

According to Prime Minister Pravindra Jagannath, despite the bad weather, all the oil has been extracted from the ship’s fuel tank. Although some oil kept elsewhere is still onboard. There is also a fear that the ship may break, causing more oil to spill into the sea.

Fuel is being taken out by helicopter and put into another ship owned by the same company Nagashiki Shipping standing on the beach.

So far it has not been known how the ship has come so close to the lagoon and the police is investigating the matter.

Mitsui OSK Lines Executive Vice President Akihiko Ono apologized in a press conference for the oil spill and the trouble it caused.

Coral-bleaching

Concern is being raised about the coral reefs of the lagoon. There is so much biodiversity in them and sometimes they are also called the rainforest of the sea.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, about 25% of fish in the sea depend on healthy coral reefs.

These coral reefs protect the seashore from storms and erosion. Coral reefs and marine ecosystems – Mauritius have two major segments of tourism. They make a big contribution to the country’s economy.

Richard Steiner, an international oil spill consultant and a marine biologist in Alaska, USA, said, “The poisonous hydrocarbons that come out of the oil spill will bleach the coral reefs, ultimately killing them.”

Last year, when oil was spilled from a ship on the coral reefs of Solomon Islands, Professor Steiner helped the Solomon Islands government. He says, “Even though that oil spill wasn’t so big. Only a few hundred tons of oil was seeping. But the coral reefs suffered a big loss.”

Effect of previous oil leaks

The earlier oil spills in different parts of the world have caused a lot of damage to marine organisms and plants.

In 2010, nearly 400,000 tons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, killing thousands of species – from plankton to dolphins.

There were other long-term effects on marine life, such as the impact on fertility, reduced growth, wounding of organisms and disease.

Dr. Steven Muravsky, a marine ecologist at the University of South Florida and Sherry Gilbert, assistant director of the university’s C-Images Consortium, wrote in The Conversation Journal, “Researchers report oil spills In the following months, he had seen wounds on the skin of the Red Snapper of North Gulf, but by 2012, these wounds started to look less but serious. “

“From the economic and environmental point of view, other evidence of the impact of hydrocarbons over time on important species such as golden tilefish, grouper and hack was also found.”

In 1978, a major crude ship was stranded in Brittany, France, leaking about 70 million gallons of oil into the sea.

A smooth oil layer polluted nearly 200 miles of the coast of France, killing organisms such as molluscs and crustaceans. Due to the oil spill, nearly 20 thousand birds were killed and the oysters of the area also deteriorated.

According to experts, even after all the efforts, less than 10 percent oil was successfully extracted in these incidents.

France sent a military aircraft from the nearby Reunion Island to help with the Mauritius oil spill incident, along with some pollution control equipment.

At the same time, Japan sent a six-member team to help France in its efforts. The Mauritius Coast Guard and several police units have also reached the spot on the southeast of the island.

Professor Steiner says, “The Government of Mauritius should assess the environmental impact as soon as possible.”

He told that its effect can last for years.