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Oil Spill threaten marine life at Port Manatee

19Sep/2006: A 400 gallon oil spill is threatening the marine life at Port Manatee, Florida, with authorities speeding up to clean up the spill, as early as possible, using well-equipped pollution boats.

The spill occurred when fuel was offloaded from a barge at the Florida Power and Light berth using a pipeline. About 500 gallons of the spill was contained in a ditch around the storage tank, but the rest floated away in to the bay. Much of the oil in the ditch was recovered immediately, preventing it spilling in to the bay and special devices trying to recover the oil that has already spilled in to the sea.

Port Manatee in Florida is a natural habitat for many marine species and it includes the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve that spreads over 8,583 acres. Many environmental agencies have spent a lot of money for restoring the natural habitat in this region and this oil spill could spoil all the habitat restoration efforts carried out in this region, if it not contained immediately. Mangroves thrive in the wetland around this reserve and sea consists of huge areas of grass beds, home to turtles, fishes and marine mammals like Manatee.

Floating oil from the spill poses a great risk to the birds and other wildlife in the region. Birds get injured when they try to remove the oil from their feathers and at times the ordeal proves too much for the birds with many dying from serious injuries sustained while removing the oil from the feathers.

The authorities of the Florida Power and Light Berth are not clear on how the spill occurred. Earlier spills in the region in 1991 and in 1996 were contained before it reached the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Reserve. A 500 gallon oil spill in Louisiana killed hundred of brown pelicans in 2004.

Kesavan Siva

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