A major spill from damaged tankers off Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah has endangered marine ecosystems in the Gulf, Arab News reports.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the pollution has pushed 35 animal species to the brink of extinction and caused long-term damage to mangrove forests, reefs and bird breeding grounds.
Biologists from Oxford University, NYU Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have sounded the alarm.
Experts warn that a lengthy and costly cleanup lies ahead, complicated by oil mixing with seabed sediments, the Gulf’s semi-enclosed geography, high water temperatures and low oxygen levels.
Environmentalists are calling on international organisations to send specialised equipment and experts to the region immediately to contain the slick and rescue surviving marine life.
The risk of further spills remains high because of regular incidents in the Strait of Hormuz. Most recently, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy reported explosions and fires on two supertankers carrying a combined total of more than 4 million barrels of oil.
