August 2003 - Karachi oil spill, Pakistan
1 September 2003
WWF - Pakistan Special Bulletin:
Preliminary Assessment of Karachi Beach after the Oil Spill
29 August 2003
According to Dr Ejaz Ahmad, Deputy Director General, WWF-Pakistan, an oil patch of approx. a square kilometre has moved near the Sandspit beach. The Sandspit beach is a nesting grounds for green turtles. If the beach becomes contaminated with the oil, it will seriously harm the turtles whose breeding season has just started.
26 August 2003
Effect on Migratory birds
The film of crude oil is an immediate threat to the foraging grounds of migratory birds and marine life. Clifton beach is an important foraging ground for 75 species of water birds, which arrive here in August and migrate back to the Central Asian Republics and Siberia in April - May.
Effect on marine life
The oil slick is a posing threat to the plankton forms of life in the sea as the oil slick is hindering their re-establishment which is vital at the primary level of the food chain.
Black Kites and crows were found yesterday feeding on dead fish belonging to different groups such as mugils, ladyfish, catfish, flatfish, eel, skates etc and garbage accumulated on the beach.
Clifton Beach is the habitat of the Dentalium, a gastropod shell, and the razor clam, a bivalve shell, which is threatened with extinction. The oil spill is harmful for the remaining population of these shells.
A finless porpoise which is already endangered was found dead at the Sea view beach today.
25 August 2003
Bird migration from the Central Asian Republics has started. Approximately 100 birds were seen near the spillage area which is a foraging ground for them. A porpoise killed by the oil was found on Seaview Beach.
20 August 2003
Clean-up operations continue
Over the last two days, three truckloads of sand, fish, crabs and other marine species covered with oil have been removed from the nearby beaches. Experts say that Clifton beach, now covered with black oily filth should be closed for at least 2 to 3 months despite the Pakistani Government's promises to open it within 12 days.
Water samples collected
A team of scientists from different government agencies, the National Institute of Oceanography, the Marine Biology Centre of the University of Karachi, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, and officials of the Fisheries Department and Cooperative Society collected water samples from different sea levels in the very close vicinity of the wreckage. The results will be available in a few days.
18 August 2003
Mangroves not affected yet
The oil spill has not yet spread to the mangrove plantations. Right now there is no direct threat to breeding grounds and habitat of turtles found off the coast of Karachi, according to WWF - Pakistan, Karachi Office. Due to eastwards direction of the sea current, the crude oil is flowing towards the Indus Delta, away from the turtle habitat. WWF - Pakistan's turtle conservation project, based at its Wetland Centre at Sandspit, is safe for now.
Migratory birds under threat
The migratory birds who visit the beach at this time of year are likely to face major threats.
Increasing numbers of dead fish
According to WWF - Pakistan's monitoring team, the death toll of fish has increased since yesterday. The Sand Plover, a common bird found in abundance along the coast of Karachi, has not been seen at all today.
15 August 2003: So far the spill has not spread to the turtle nesting beach and nearby mangrove swamps, 4 km away from the coastline. If an onshore wind develops the spill could spread to the mangrove forests, and mangroves will be severely damaged as oil chokes their extensive aerial root system, in effect suffocating the trees.
“Such an accident will leave long lasting adverse impacts on marine life, coastal plants and wildlife. Toxics and persistent chemicals including hydrocarbons can accumulate in food chains, resulting in impairment of the reproductive system and damage to the renal or nervous system. For example, ingestion of oil causes intestinal disorders, renal or liver failure. Egg laying in seabirds may be depressed,” added Hammad Naqi khan.
Short term effects
The short term environmental effects noted so far around the 14 km long Clifton beach are contamination of shore communities, death of fish stocks and crabs and oil coating on wings of birds and shells decomposed with oil slick.
Little knowledge is currently available on the direct effects of oil on local fish stocks. Fish eggs and fish larvae are particularly vulnerable to the toxic components of oil as they occur in the surface layers of water and will be in direct contact with the spilt oil.
“Loss of critical species on the shoreline following the spill may lead to changes in marine habitats and communities which will take years to recover,” remarked Dr Ejaz Ahmad, Deputy Director General, WWF – Pakistan. WWF – Pakistan is playing an advisory role in this grave situation.
Richard Garstang, WWF – Pakistan’s Conservation Advisor and Manager of the Federal Government’s Pakistan Wetlands Project, pointed out that the spill poses direct threat to at least two species of endangered marine turtles, and five species of dolphins or porpoises.
The marine turtles breed year round on the beaches of Sandspit and Hawks Bay and tend to concentrate close to the shoreline in large numbers. The spill has coincided with the start of the annual peaks in breeding activity for both the Green and Olive Ridley Turtles. The marine mammals that are most vulnerable are those like the humpback dolphins that regularly feed in the shallow water off the Karachi’s beaches.
More informationUpdates
People affected
Clean-up efforts
Contact information
Dr Ejaz Ahmad, Deputy Director General, WWF–Pakistan, tel: +92 021 4544791-92, email: wwfkhi@khi.compol.com
Amjad Aslam, Head Communications, WWF–Pakistan, tel: +92 042 5862360, 5882069, email: aaslam@wwf.org.pk
