The Cefas team will also contribute to a long-term strategy to consider the ecological assets of Mauritius and what remediation and mitigation is required to ensure the coastal ecosystems are protected into the future. Monitoring and assessment will focus on both physical impacts at the casualty site where the stern section of the vessel remains, and also any issues resulting from the entry of oil into the lagoon and coastal areas. Once in country, with the support of the British High Commission (BHC), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and UK Aid, we helped the relevant Mauritian government departments and agencies develop an integrated approach to post spill monitoring and assessment applying best scientific practice introduced in the UK Premiam guidelines. We have worked extensively in environmental issues across the UK and internationally, making us well placed to understand the extent and impact of the grounding. Our collective expertise includes oil spill response monitoring, water quality, coral reef and seagrass assessment and marine chemical contamination. In view of the serious nature of the disaster, my colleagues and I were granted special dispensation to travel in spite of UK travel restrictions and were Covid-secure at all times. Ocean currents carried the oil northwards, avoiding the Blue Bay Marine Park, but the northern coastline, the mangroves on the shoreline north of Pointe d’Esny and the Île aux Aigrettes, a small island near the wreck, were affected in the short term. The presence of mangroves, seagrass meadows, and macro algae make it a habitat for about 72 fish species and the endangered green turtle. Blue Bay Marine Park, is a marine protected area, and one of Mauritius’ main tourist attraction. Fortunately, due to the nature of the prevailing weather conditions at the time of the spill, the vulnerable habitats in the nearby Blue Bay Marine park were largely unaffected in the short term. These sites are listed under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance as biodiversity hotspots. The ship ran aground off Pointe d’Esny and just to the north of Blue Bay Marine Park. The back part of the boat has already broken off and been towed away, but the large front stern will take much longer to move and will have ongoing impacts on the nearby coral reefs. Image of the shipwreck taken from the shoreline in August. Mitigation and clean up began immediately, with several booms deployed to stop movement on oil. On 6 August, the hull of the grounded vessel began to break apart, and low sulphur fuel oil was released into the surrounding marine environment. Unfortunately, complete removal was not possible due to the location of the vessel and weather logistics. Over the time of the ship breaking up, 3,000 tons of fuel oil were removed from the carrier. MV Wakashio, a 299m bulk carrier, grounded, on 25 July, on the outer reef about 1.5 nautical miles off the South East coast of Mauritius. In this blog Michelle reflects on the impact of the oil spill and the role of marine science in mitigating environmental disaster. Michelle and her colleagues, Dr Sue Ware and Dr Phillipe Bersuder, returned to the UK last month, following work with local experts and communities to help restore its coastline and protect the thousands of animal species at risk of oil pollution. Marine Scientist Michelle Devlin, was one of three Cefas ecology experts sent, at the request of the Mauritian Government, to support the country’s response to a devastating oil spill, after MV Wakashio containing 4,000 tons of fuel ran aground and broke up near environmentally protected coral reefs in July of this year.
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