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http://newsinfo.inq7.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_id=25262
Full story below:
Oil spill spread to Tubbataha feared
By Norman Bordadora
Inquirer
Last updated 00:55am (Mla time) 10/07/2006
Published on Page A15 of the October 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AN EXPERT on marine ecology yesterday called on all concerned sectors to immediately contain the remaining oil in waters off Guimaras as the ocean currents are expected to shift directions in the coming weeks.
Ocean currents shifting from its southwest to northeast direction and vice versa will likely result in the remaining oil going toward the biodiversity-rich area of the Sulu Sea, including the Tubbataha Reef.
The oil spillage must be stopped before monsoon winds change and drive the oil to critical habitats in the Sulu Sea, said Wilfredo Licuanan, chair of the De La Salle Universitys department of biology.
In a news conference in Quezon City, Licuanan said the governments decision to siphon out the oil from MT Solar I in December might be too late with the onset of the northeast monsoon in the coming weeks.
Licuanan said that if the siphoning starts toward the end of the year, it may only be finished by February. February is the peak of the northeast monsoon across the archipelago and its waters.
The problem is greatly complicated by the depth at which it is sunken. The ship might be also too big to be floated, he said.
The Sulu Sea and the Tubbataha Reef are one of the areas of the country rich in marine life. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has declared the reef a world heritage site.
Licuanan said a simulation they did with eggs of fish showed that particles released from Guimaras on a northeast monsoon would pass Negros and end up in the Tubbataha and Balabac reefs in just 30 days.
What we did was passive dispersal. Eggs of fish could not swim, as well as the oil slick, he said.
He said that oil continues to leak out of the sunken ship at five liters an hour.
Full story below:
Oil spill spread to Tubbataha feared
By Norman Bordadora
Inquirer
Last updated 00:55am (Mla time) 10/07/2006
Published on Page A15 of the October 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AN EXPERT on marine ecology yesterday called on all concerned sectors to immediately contain the remaining oil in waters off Guimaras as the ocean currents are expected to shift directions in the coming weeks.
Ocean currents shifting from its southwest to northeast direction and vice versa will likely result in the remaining oil going toward the biodiversity-rich area of the Sulu Sea, including the Tubbataha Reef.
The oil spillage must be stopped before monsoon winds change and drive the oil to critical habitats in the Sulu Sea, said Wilfredo Licuanan, chair of the De La Salle Universitys department of biology.
In a news conference in Quezon City, Licuanan said the governments decision to siphon out the oil from MT Solar I in December might be too late with the onset of the northeast monsoon in the coming weeks.
Licuanan said that if the siphoning starts toward the end of the year, it may only be finished by February. February is the peak of the northeast monsoon across the archipelago and its waters.
The problem is greatly complicated by the depth at which it is sunken. The ship might be also too big to be floated, he said.
The Sulu Sea and the Tubbataha Reef are one of the areas of the country rich in marine life. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has declared the reef a world heritage site.
Licuanan said a simulation they did with eggs of fish showed that particles released from Guimaras on a northeast monsoon would pass Negros and end up in the Tubbataha and Balabac reefs in just 30 days.
What we did was passive dispersal. Eggs of fish could not swim, as well as the oil slick, he said.
He said that oil continues to leak out of the sunken ship at five liters an hour.
