Wanted: A Perfect Storm

NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews) – A downed industrial tanker off the coast of Oriental Mindoro with 800,000 liters of fuel is killing softly the living organisms – animals and plants alike – in the municipal waters.

The water currents move the oil sludge towards the south, extending the environmental devastation to the coasts of Antique and Palawan.

As oil tends to spread thin on the water surface, it would cover a wider area as it drifts. The oil slick creates a barrier for some time between atmospheric oxygen and the ocean water, suffocating thus not just planktonic

It is also likely that the planktons that have stuck to the oil would be ingested by animals in the marine food chain, the toxin of which is carried down to higher level consumers, to include humans.

The oil sludge also smothers the corals, eel grass and algae, including mangrove saplings. It, in effect, destroys

Turning Point

BY WILLIAM R. ADAN

the entire marine ecosystem of affected locations and their productivity.

It would take months for an oil slick to become so thin so as no longer to deprive ocean lives of oxygen, by the action of strong waves, currents and other oceanic disturbances. It would, however, take years for corals to recover and restore its productivity.

Accordingly, the oil spill has become a health hazard to the coastal dwellers of Oriental Mindoro. The oil stench has been reported to have caused fever, headaches and dizziness.

And, it is estimated that the oil spill will deprive by the environmental disaster but also those involved in products. No one really knows how long would they suffer. As said, the ecosystem takes some time to recover and be productive again. may take months. The current technology of barrier and skimming method in oil spill clean-up takes long and is quite expensive. Only a strong natural disturbance of the ocean may offer a faster and, probably, a less expensive clean-up.

Pray for a perfect storm.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines.)