JULY 10, 2019
by Max Matavire
Rangers in wet suits have been searching
for oil-tarred penguins in shallow water around St Croix Island off the South
African coast as a refuelling spill highlights conservationists' fears over
pollution.
Experts said an unknown number
of penguins had
been affected on the rocky, uninhabited island, which is home to the largest
breeding colony of endangered African penguins in the world.
A Liberian-flagged ship spewed
between 200 and 400 litres of oil into the sea off Port Elizabeth city during
"bunkering" re-fuelling—the process of filling a ship with fuel from
another vessel.
The small-scale leakage from the
bulk carrier MV Chrysanthi vessel at dawn on Saturday was the second oil spill
in the environmentally-sensitive area in three years.
"This is exactly the concern
with offshore 'bunkering' that we have been voicing concerns about,"
Stacey Webb, of the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal
Birds (SANCCOB) charity, told AFP.
"The danger is not over yet.
Penguins forage up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) away from the islands (St Croix Island and
Bird Island) so they could run into the spill out at sea."
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