Conservationists say the oil spill along Lebanon's Mediterranean shore is the largest environmental crisis in the country's history.
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Conservationists say the oil spill along Lebanon's Mediterranean shore is the largest environmental crisis in the country's history. The oil spill over 80km of coastline came after Israeli bombs hit the Jiyyeh power station in July.
Lebanese underwater photographer and journalist Najy Cherabieh said southerly winds and currents prevented international organisations and Lebanese authorities from being able to contain the spill.
'I was shocked at the scale of the damage,' Cherabieh told DIVE. 'The spill had covered the beaches with black patches littering the golden sands and sticky black fuel oil enclosed all rocks and coastal fauna. I now fear for Lebanon's fragile species, especially those that have to surface to survive, such as turtles, dolphins and crabs, some of which now face extinction.'
It is feared that the eventual total of oil escaping from damaged tanks could be as much as the 40,000 tonnes that spilled in Alaska during the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker accident. Oil spots have been discovered on beaches in neighbouring Syria and experts warned that strong winds could cause the spill to reach Turkey, Greece and Cyprus.
'The darkest side of war is the loss of human life, there is no argument there, but on some level it also breaks the heart to see something like this happen to a once beautiful ecosystem,' Cherabieh added.
