Bangladesh officials warn that an oil spill from a crashed tanker is threatening endangered dolphins and other wildlife in the massive Sundarbans mangrove region, branding the leak an ecological ‘catastrophe’
Thursday 11 December 2014 10.23 GMT
An oil spill from a crashed tanker is threatening endangered dolphins and other wildlife in the Sundarbans mangrove region.
Bangladesh officials have called the leak an ecological “catastrophe”.
The tanker, carrying an estimated 350,000 litres (75,000 gallons), of oil collided on Tuesday with another vessel and partly sank in the Sundarbans’ Shela river, home to rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins.
Although officials are unsure how much oil has spilled, they warned the slick has spread to another river as well as a network of canals in the vast Sundarbans delta.
“The oil spill has spread over a 60km-long (37 mile) area in the Shela and Passur rivers,” said Amir Hossain, chief forest official of the Sundarbans.
“It’s a catastrophe for the delicate ecology of the Sundarbans. The oil spill has already blackened the shoreline, threatening trees, plankton, vast populations of small fishes and dolphins,” Hossain said.
“The symptoms of environmental damage will be visible soon, as the water quality has already been damaged,” he added.
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