New oil spill in Ecuador's Galapagos islands
Date: 08-Jul-02
Country: ECUADOR
It is the second time in 18 months a boat has spilled fuel into the Pacific Ocean waters of the "enchanted isles," which helped inspire 19th century British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.
The archipelago is still reeling from a January 2001 spill that dumped tens of thousands of gallons of fuel into the area and led ecologists around the world to question Ecuador's management of the islands.
A local barge spilled the diesel fuel it was transporting to a thermal electric plant last week after it was shaken by strong currents near Puerto Villamil on Isabela island, home to sea lions, turtles and birds, officials said.
"It is a small spill ... of 1,800 gallons of diesel, which is very little," Galapagos park director Eliecer Cruz told Reuters. No animals were immediately affected, he said, though microorganisms could suffer a "minimal" impact.
The barge was carrying about 3,000 gallons of fuel. Park officials manually removed and applied chemical agents to break up the diesel after the spill.
"At this point there is no impact on the islands. By this afternoon all the fuel was recovered," Environment Minister Lourdes Luque told Reuters.
The Galapagos islands, 625 miles (1000 km) west of Ecuador's coastline, are home to hundreds of colorful and unique species, including sea lions, exotic birds and iguanas.
The impact of the 2001 spill was mitigated as strong currents carried most of the fuel away from the islands, where it evaporated in the sun.
Still, a recent study showed 62 percent of the iguanas on Santa Fe island, affected by last year's spill, died within a year of the accident, evidence that even a low-level spill can cause serious damage.