Spill Scare - oil tanker runs aground off Galapagos Islands - Brief Article

Science World, March 12, 2001 by Karen de Seve

Last January, an oil tanker ran aground off the Galapagos Islands and struck terror in the hearts of scientists around the world. How come? The Galapagos Islands, located 966 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, are home to some of the world's rarest wildlife--and served as the "laboratory" in which naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) formulated his theory of evolution. Would seeping oil destroy one of nature's greatest ecological treasures?

Three days after the Ecuadorian tanker Jessica struck a reef a half-mile off San Cristobal Island, the tanker began leaking the bulk of its cargo--roughly 200,000 gallons of diesel (heating and fuel oil) and bunker (thick fuel used in cruise ships). The oil, intended for tourist boats and a research station, oozed across roughly 1,191 square kilometers (460 square miles) and doused at least two marine iguanas, about 20 pelicans and rare birds called blue-footed boobies, and more than 20 sea lions. Workers used toothbrushes to scrub the animals and returned them to the shore. "Any time oil is released into the environment, it threatens the ecosystem," says Tod Lyons, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard strike force summoned to help clean up the spill.

Oil floats in water, so recovery teams used mechanical devices called skimmers to vacuum oil off the sea surface into storage containers. They also tried to pump out oil still inside the listing tanker--now a permanent fixture in the bay.

So far, experts think the Galapagos have been spared a catastrophe, but it's still too early to assess long-term effects. Oil--consisting of hydrogen and carbon compounds called hydrocarbons--can soak into the tissue of sea urchins and algae, which are then fed on by larger fish and marine mammals.

Fortunately, strong winds, currents, and waves washed almost all the slick out to sea, where oil molecules will eventually break down and disperse in seawater. "We got very lucky," says Richard Charter, marine conservationist at the Environmental Defense Fund.