Following an oil spillage last week, Mauritians as part of efforts to clean up are making floating booms of human hair and leaves in a scramble to mop up oil leaking from a grounded Japanese ship onto their pristine Indian Ocean beaches.
This mop up exercise has seen numerous volunteers sewing leaves and hair into nets to float on the surface and confine the oil until it can be sucked up by hoses.
In explaining why hair was being used to mop up the oil, Founder of eco-tourism agency Mauritius Conscious, Romina Tello said that “Hair absorbs oil but not water.” and revealed that there has been a big campaign around the island to get the hair.
Romina Tello who is also part of those helping to clean black sludge from mangrove swamps said
“Mauritians are also making booms to float on the sea out of sugar cane leaves, plastic bottles and hair that people were voluntarily cutting off.”
Further expressing her grievances on the spillage, she said,
“It is really moving; everyone is doing what we can. It breaks our hearts to see the damage.”
She further said, diving centres, fishermen and others have all joined in the clean-up effort, with some guesthouses offering free accommodation to volunteers and hair salons offering discounts to those donating hair.
The Prime Minister of Maurituis, Pravind Jugnauth has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international help. He said,
“The spill represents a danger for the country of 1.3 million people that relies heavily on tourism and has been hurt by travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.”
On the environmental side, the environment ministry has described where the tanker was grounded as a sensitive zone, saying the leaking fuel will endanger the diverse marine life which attracts tourist to the country.
The oil spill is near the Blue Bay Marine Park, known for its spectacular corals and myriad fish species. Mauritius relies on tourism as a major contributor to its economy. They made about $1.6 billion last year.
Background
Two weeks ago, a giant bulk carrier ran aground on a reef off Mauritius despite warnings from the local coast guard that the ship was travelling too near the shore. The Panamanian-flagged vessel which belongs to Japan’s Nagashiki Shipping was heading from China to Brazil when the accident happened.
Reports say that the coast guard had tried in vain to contact the ship’s captain for an hour to warn that its routing looked dangerous but when the coast guard officials finally got through to the master, the captain insisted the planned route was safe. A few minutes later, however, the ship radioed local authorities to say the vessel had grounded on a reef.
The bulk carrier was aground without problems till it began to leak causing a lot of damage to the water body. Despite efforts to help reduce the damage of the spill, reports have it that heavy winds in the country is destructing the mop up exercise.
