Wednesday 18 / September / 2024
Muscat: More plastic bottles are washing ashore on the Masirah Island as environmentalists are pleading with volunteers to save the turtle nesting beaches from a “catastrophe.”
Thousands of loggerhead and green turtles are now in danger after a vessel sank two weeks ago, leaving thousands of plastic items floating in the Arabian Sea.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs had sent a team last week to inspect the affected locations, according to a ministry official.
“It is a sensitive environmental area and the ministry is doing its best to resolve the issue,” she said.
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According to sources, the vessel is still leaking water bottle caps, water bottles, plastic torches, toothbrushes and diesel and petrol barrels.
Food items are also being washed onshore, such as biscuits, chewing gum and candy, while a volunteer said some syringes and cosmetics have also been found on the island.
Reports suggest that the 800-tonne cargo vessel sank on July 22 on the south east side of the island, around 500 metres from the shore, generating massive quantities of toxic litter.
“It will take months to clean the beaches, there needs to be a consolidated effort from private sector companies and public sector entities to find a quick solution to this environmental disaster” an environmental activist said.
Last week, the Environment Society of Oman (ESO) had called via their Twitter account for an urgent cleanup campaign, which started on Thursday morning and ended Saturday to pick up the plastic trash.
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In a post, ESO asked volunteers to join the cleanup effort and asked them to arrange their own transportation and accommodation.
Activists said the spill will also have an adverse effect on tourism on the island. “The restive beaches of Masirah will never be the same if something isn’t done soon to clean up the spill and restore them back to their natural state,” an activist told the Times of Oman.
Isa Al Amri, a kite surfer, explained that some beaches in Masirah have turned blue after many bottle caps washed ashore. “Turtles and fish might swallow some plastic material, which will eventually kill them,” he explained, adding that the litter will also result in the suffocation of nesting turtles on beaches. Masirah has gained a reputation as the best kitesurfing spot in the Middle East and attracts a number of tourists throughout the year.
It is also one of the largest turtle sanctuaries in the world, accounting for a large number of new hatchlings and is considered to be one of the main beaches that could help increase the number of the endangered loggerhead turtles. July to October is the peak time for turtle watching in Oman as approximately 20,000 turtles or more lay around 50,000 to 60,000 eggs each year in the Sultanate, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
