Australian oil spill likely to affect Indonesia, Coral Triangle

Posted on October, 15 2009

A toxic slick from an Australian oil spill has now reached Indonesian waters and could affect some of the Coral Triangle’s most charismatic migratory marine species, including whales, dolphins, tuna and threatened marine turtles that are known to pass through the affected area.

A toxic slick from an Australian oil spill has now reached Indonesian waters and could affect some of the Coral Triangle’s most charismatic migratory marine species, including whales, dolphins, tuna and threatened marine turtles that are known to pass through the affected area.  

The Montara field oil spill in the Timor Sea has been leaking an estimated 400 barrels of oil each day, with estimates showing hundreds if not thousands of individual sea snakes, turtles and seabirds may be found in the area affected by the slick.

The spill area is precariously close to Savu, the largest marine protected area in Indonesia.

“We hope that additional actions are taken by the company to mitigate the possible devastating effects of this accident on people and the environment,” said Wawan Ridwan, WWF-Indonesia’s Marine Director.

“The potential damage to Indonesia’s precious marine resources could be costly, with likely impacts on the country’s biodiversity, coastal communities, and fisheries and tourism industries,” he said.   

Nearly two months after the leak began, the well head remains uncapped after failed attempts this week to plug it, and the toxic slick continues to spread, with at least 6,000 km2 being covered.

The Coral Triangle, which covers around 6 million km2 of ocean across Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste, is home to six of the seven known species of marine turtles, which have been known to migrate from this region all the way to Australia.

WWF-Australia and a team of independent marine ecologists conducted marine wildlife surveys in the region of the Timor Sea affected by the Montara oil field leak.

Dr Gilly Llewellyn, WWF-Australia’s Director of Conservation, led the team of researchers assessing the number of wildlife found in the affected area, and their condition.

“Nearly two months after this leak began, oil continues to spread into the ocean,” said Dr Llewellyn.

“Because the spill is out of sight, it should not mean it’s out of mind. We need to shatter the myth that an oil spill only affects marine wildlife when it washes up on our beaches,” she said.

“More importantly, as the threat of more oil and gas infrastructure in this fragile marine region grows, we must make sure that the very real risk of more leaks is taken into account.”

ENDS

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Editors note:
-The Coral Triangle—the nursery of the seas—is the most diverse marine region on the planet, matched in its importance to life on Earth only by the Amazon rainforest and the Congo basin. Defined by marine areas containing more than 500 species of reef-building coral, it covers around 6 million square kilometres of ocean across six countries in the Indo-Pacific – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.
-It is home to 3,000 species of reef fish and commercially-valuable species such as tuna, whales, dolphins, rays, sharks, and 6 of the 7 known species of marine turtles.
-The Coral Triangle also directly sustains the lives of more than 120 million people and contains key spawning and nursery grounds for tuna, while healthy reef and coastal systems underpin a growing tourism sector. WWF is working with other NGOs, multilateral agencies and governments around the world to support conservation efforts in the Coral Triangle for the benefit of all.
-For information on Coral Triangle go to: www.panda.org/coraltriangle  


For more information
Paolo P. Mangahas, WWF Coral Triangle Programme Communications Manager (Kuala Lumpur), Tel: +60 3 7803 3772 Mobile: +6 013 673 0413 Email: pmangahas@ywwf.org.my
Jonathan Larkin, WWF-Australia Communications Officer (Sydney), Tel: 02 8202 1216, 0410 221 410 Email: jlarkin@wwf.org.au