John Culatto
AUTHORITIES have reopened Camp Bay and Little Bay to bathers in Gibraltar after managing to clean up a lot of the oil that damaged that stretch of coast after Monday’s spill.
The Department of the Environment have been working with Brightside contractors and The Nautilus Project’s young volunteers to remove oil from the rocks over the last three days.
But Gibraltar’s government urged bathers to ‘exercise caution as changes in the tides or weather may dislodge remaining residues’ in a statement Thursday.
It follows an oil spill Monday when the tank of the Gas Venus ship overflowed during refuelling.
Clean-up efforts will now be focused on the Rosia Bay area which the government said ‘is worst affected by the spill’.
Gibraltar Port launches have focused their efforts on scanning the sea for sheening of light oil in the southwestern Bay of Gibraltar.
Westerly winds have so far driven the oil against this area of the coast between Seven Sisters south of the port and Camp Bay.
The quick actions of the port and environmental officials have averted Spain’s beaches being damaged by the spill when the wind turns northeasterly on Friday.
The Nautilus Project NGO has been taking an active part in the oil clearing process.
It said in a video statement on Twitter showing the extent of the spill that it was ‘deeply saddened’ by the accident.
“These oil spills will have severe long term effects on our marine environment,” it continued.
“Oil leaks can affect endangered dolphins by being being in inhaled as they come up to breathe.
“Longer term these animals suffer repressed immune reactions and reproductive capabililities.”
It also described the damage to bird life as ‘harrowing’ and its negative impact on fish, shellfish and invertebrae.
The charity did report, however, they had still not found any oil-stained birds in the area, much to its relief.
“All Greater Cormorants spotted are looking healthy and with no signs of lethargy,” it said in another social media post.
Both The Nautilus Project and the Department of the Environment have asked the public to report any oiled wildlife or seabirds to them immediately.
The latest spill comes hot on the heels of other spills on the east of the Rock caused by the shipwrecked OS 35 that also damaged sea life in that area.
READ MORE:
- Port reveals upto 2,000 litres of oil spilled Monday on southwest Gibraltar coast as clean-up continues
- Ecologists slam bunkering safety measures as oil spill from refuelling accident reaches Gibraltar shore
- Beaches and roads closed in Gibraltar following oil spill: An ‘unquanitified’ amount of fuel seeps into sea from overflowing…
