It is not known where the giant oil spill that has already hit 46 municipalities in Brazil comes from. The tragedy is that it is killing too many marine animals.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himOil to go go on the coasts of the Brazilian north east. From the beginning of September to today, 1500 kilometers of the northeastern coast of Brazil are practically invaded by large patches of crude oil which ended up contaminating beaches and rocks and leaving marine animals trapped. A discovery that dates back to 2 September and of which very little is still known.
What is certain is that the oil slick affects nearly a hundred locations off the northeastern coast and that it comes from non-Brazilian oil.
According to data from Ibama, the Brazilian Environmental Institute, 46 municipalities are affected in 8 states (Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Piaui and Maranhão), most (41%) are located in Rio Grande do Norte (in the graph below the situation by state):
It is scary that no one knows where all this oil comes from. Petrobras has examined samples and ruled out that they belong to its sites.
"The material - they say to Ibama - was unloaded overboard over a month ago in the waters of the Atlantic from an unidentified ship".
Animals affected
Black oil has already hit at least nine turtles and one Atlantic shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), known for its long migration. According to Ibama, one of the turtles has already been returned to the sea and another sent to a rehabilitation center. Seven turtles were found dead or died after the rescue, while not a single bird has survived.
Residents are now sharing videos and photos of turtles and cormorants, as well as seagulls and other birds, covered in oil and in agony. Ibama's recommendation is that, in these cases, the population appeals to the relevant environmental agencies to have the animals evaluated before being returned to the sea.
An oil spill from an undetermined source is covering beaches on Brazil's northeast coast, its environmental agency says pic.twitter.com/4ItZ9mHfmA
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) September 27, 2019
So far, there are no signs that fish and shellfish are contaminated, according to Ibama, but the Institute recommends that swimmers and fishermen have no contact with the crude.
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Germana Carillo
