Posted 30/10/09
World Wildlife Fund:
Oil Spill threatens wildlife!
You need to know about what is turning into one of Australia's biggest environmental disasters. Please click here to watch the Montara Oil Slick video.
Since August, over 400 barrels of oil a day have spewed into the ocean from the Montara oil field off the Kimberley coast, in Western Australia.
It is a sickening scene: a sea of oil and the gas is still billowing out of the rig.
You’ll be shocked to learn that the rig's operator, Thai-owned petroleum exploration company PTTEP Australasia, says it has tried - and failed - three times to stem the flow. A fourth attempt to stop the spill on Friday was delayed.
I recently led a team of WWF researchers to the affected area. We collected samples and scientific surveys were conducted of the wildlife threatened by the massive oil spill. We recorded hundreds of dolphins and seabirds in the oil slick area, as well as sea snakes and threatened hawksbill and flatback turtles.
In a comprehensive 72-page report issued Friday, a vivid - and frightening - picture is presented of a rich marine community under toxic threat from a well that has been leaking for over two months.
We know that oil can be a slow and silent killer. Impacts from the Exxon Valdez oil spill are still being seen 20 years later.
What you can do
You can help WWF in a number of ways:
We are determined that this environmental disaster is not swept under the carpet. We need you to help us get the word out into the community, and please -
Your contribution will be used to cover the cost of the research and investigation currently underway. A Senate inquiry is likely, and analysis must be done on the samples as well as satellite images to determine how long the oil spill will affect the environment, how toxic it is, and the impacts of species in the affected area.
This research will present to the Senate inquiry and the Australian government that whilst the Montara oil spill crisis continues, action is needed now to stop these massive contamination disasters from happening in the future.
And in the long term, Australia must establish a network of Marine Protected Areas, which safeguard the ocean's rich diversity of life.
Watch the video: Click here to see a film clip of our research trip to the Montara oil spill.
We need your help. Please donate now
Sincerely,
Gilly Llewellyn
Director of Conservation
WWF-Australia
More oil spill related information on WWF.org.au