Dead Dolphins wash up on Mauritius beaches
A day after the controversial sinking of the 300m front section of the Japanese-owned oil spill ship, the Wakashio, there is shock and anger in the country as dozensof dead dolphins and porpoises washed up on the beaches of Mauritius earlier today in the Indian Ocean.
There has been not yet been an official statement on the exact cause of death and species, although Government fisheries officials did confirm 17 dolphins had been found on Wednesday 26 August, as the numbers kept rising throughout the day.
Videosand photoshave appeared throughout the national media as well as across social media, with several videos showing both heavy oil in the mouth of the dolphin as well as a thin film of oil along the delicate breathing blowholes and skins of the mammals. Videosalso emerged showing the desperate efforts to save the mammals who were clearly looking distressed.
Until now, it had been dead turtles, fish, shellfish, and crabs that had been washing up on shore, and these are the largest marine life to date to be seen directly impacted, 32 days since the Japanese vessel, the Wakashio grounded on Mauritius’ pristine coral reefs, and started spilling ship engine oil from 6 August. The dolphins washed up along a 2 mile stretch of coast along the bays and shores of Mauritius, 12 miles North from the wreck of the Wakashio. This stretch has previously been famous for the hundreds of dolphins that could be seen jumping out of the ocean in the calm morning waters around the edge of the unspoiled barrier reef on that part of the South Eastern coast of the island.
The location of the beaching of the dolphins is much further North than the Government had been concentrating cleanup efforts, despite satellite analysis using SAR that showed that on 11 August (five days after the spill had commenced), traces of the oil spill could be seen 14 miles Northby the protected atoll and mangroves of Ile aux Cerfs, less than a mile from where some of the dolphins have now washed up in the village of Quatre Soeurs by the Grand River South East.
Anger has been rising against what has been seen as a slow and apathetic response from the Government, in which they have been seen to hide behind the advice of select international advisers while not being open to other offers of support from around the world and reducing transparency around the containment, salvage and cleanup process. Frustration is also building against the Japanese shipping company, Nagashiki Shipping,the insurance industry and international community who appear to be ignoring the plight of ordinary Mauritians who had been on the front lines of this crisis since the start.
An army of volunteers and NGOs in Mauritius have had to self organize efforts to build homemade oil booms and organize oil spill clean up efforts along the normally pristine coastline.
Frustrations have been mounting since the grounding and a large nationwide protest is now planned for Saturday 29 August in the capital city, Port Louis.
There has been no comment from the owners of the vessel, Nagashiki Shipping to the latest ecological fallout from this incident. Last week, the global shipping regulator, the IMO admitted that it did not know the long term impacts of the VLSFO type of heavy fuel oil that the Wakashiowas carrying on the marine and human environment in the tropical waters of Mauritius.
