ECUADOR: A fresh fuel spill in Ecuador's pristine Galapagos islands spared the archipelago's exotic wildlife in the short term, but scientists yesterday said it was too soon to tell its long-term effects.
It is the second time in 18 months that a boat has spilled fuel into the Pacific Ocean waters of the "enchanted isles" which helped to inspire 19th century British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.
A small barge spilled up to 2,000 gallons of diesel on Thursday near Puerto Villamil, home to turtles, iguanas and sea lions, after strong currents thrust the fuel tank it was carrying overboard, officials said.
Park officials contained the spill about a mile from the port and applied chemical agents to help break up the diesel, which according to preliminary reports did not reach the shores of Puerto Villamil on Isabela island.
No animals were immediately affected by the spill, which environmental authorities admitted was small. But independent experts said it was too soon to measure the its impact on microorganisms or marine species.
"We can't quantify the effects or tell which species are affected until we analyse marine species, fish, molluscs, crustaceans, to determine its real dimension," said Mr Jaime Cevallos, a Charles Darwin Research Station representative.
The Galapagos islands, 1,000 km west of Ecuador, are home to hundreds of unique species that each year lure thousands of visitors. In January 2001 almost 240,000 gallons of fuel was spilled into its pristine waters, and led ecologists to question Ecuador's management of the islands.
Ecuador has failed to implement a safer way to transport fuel to Galapagos electric plants after the spill last year, which was mitigated as strong currents carried most of the fuel away to evaporate in the sun. Defects in fuel transport "make events like this prone to occur", said Ms Cecilia Falconi of a local environmental group, Fundacion Natura.
A recent study showed 62 per cent of the iguanas on Santa Fe island died within a year of the last accident. The latest spill is "going to cause problems but it's hard to say how many. Most likely it will affect animals as it did previously with the marine iguanas," said independent biologist Dr Eduardo Pichilingue. - (Reuters)