Related News
Cleanup underway after oil spill
Source: Agencies |
March 13, 2009, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WILDLIFE workers rescued turtle eggs and captured a few oil-coated pelicans off Australia's east coast yesterday while state officials assessed the extent of an oil spill from a cargo ship that was damaged in stormy seas.
The Pacific Adventurer's fuel stores were punctured when 31 containers of ammonium nitrate fertilizer slipped off the ship early on Wednesday as the ship rocked in Australia's rough eastern waters, where a cyclone had stormed for the past week.
The spill of up to 30 metric tons of oil created a slick spanning 10 kilometers, and some of the oil had begun to wash up on beaches in Queensland state, leaving a black, sticky mess as the tide receded.
At Marcoola Beach, lifeguard official David McLean said oil globules stretched about 1 kilometer along the beach, which was closed due to the spill.
"As you walk along it sticks to the bottom of your shoe like glue," he said.
About 100 turtle eggs were collected from the beach by wildlife rescuers.
Five oil-coated pelicans flew in and joined a daily feeding session at Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island.
Workers managed to catch three of them and the Environmental Protection Agency planned to evacuate the birds for chemical cleaning treatment, Trevor Hassard from the resort's Dolphin Education Centre told the Brisbane Times newspaper.
"It just makes you want to cry," Hassard was quoted as saying. "This stuff is so hard to remove. If an animal like a bird gets oil on it, it basically dies. There's nothing we can do."
The Pacific Adventurer's fuel stores were punctured when 31 containers of ammonium nitrate fertilizer slipped off the ship early on Wednesday as the ship rocked in Australia's rough eastern waters, where a cyclone had stormed for the past week.
The spill of up to 30 metric tons of oil created a slick spanning 10 kilometers, and some of the oil had begun to wash up on beaches in Queensland state, leaving a black, sticky mess as the tide receded.
At Marcoola Beach, lifeguard official David McLean said oil globules stretched about 1 kilometer along the beach, which was closed due to the spill.
"As you walk along it sticks to the bottom of your shoe like glue," he said.
About 100 turtle eggs were collected from the beach by wildlife rescuers.
Five oil-coated pelicans flew in and joined a daily feeding session at Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island.
Workers managed to catch three of them and the Environmental Protection Agency planned to evacuate the birds for chemical cleaning treatment, Trevor Hassard from the resort's Dolphin Education Centre told the Brisbane Times newspaper.
"It just makes you want to cry," Hassard was quoted as saying. "This stuff is so hard to remove. If an animal like a bird gets oil on it, it basically dies. There's nothing we can do."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
