June 23, 2021: Dead sea animals continue to wash onto Sri Lanka’s beaches weeks after a massive cargo ship carrying hazardous chemicals caught fire and then sank off the coast of Colombo, the country’s capital.
Creatures including dolphins, turtles and a blue whale — some with reported burn marks — have landed on the country’s beaches, increasing environmentalists’ fears that the effects may be severe and long-lasting.
“What is happening now is unnatural,” said Muditha Katuwawala of Pearl Protectors, a Sri Lankan maritime conservation organization. He expressed concern over the number of wildlife deaths since the plane caught fire. “It’s definitely more than any number we’ve ever seen.” According to the Associated Press, the Sri Lankan government has said that contact with the ship has been confirmed only “temporarily”, and further investigations are underway, according to the Associated Press. “Basically, we can say that these deaths are due to two ways – one is due to heat burns and the other is due to chemicals,” said Anil Jasinghe, Secretary, Ministry of Environment.
Dozens of dead turtles and 19 other sea creatures have been reported to his organization, Katuwawala said, adding that the amount was “extremely unusual” and likely too young. “These turtles always come back to our shores to lay their eggs,” he said. “When they return and return home, it’s really sad.”
The X Pearl, a flagship container ship in Singapore, reported a fire on May 20 near the port of Colombo. The fire lasted for more than a week, when attempts to move the ship into deep water failed. The ship contained harmful chemicals such as nitric acid, sodium methoxide and methanol. There were also billions of lentil-shaped plastic pellets on board, called nurdles, which splashed into the water and blanketed the nearby shore as soon as the ship sank.
Conservationists say dead animals sometimes wash the shores, especially when Sri Lanka has rough seas during the monsoon season. On Saturday, the United Nations warned of the catastrophic consequences of the catastrophe. Hanna Singer-Hamdi, the US Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, said in a statement: “As a result, the lives and jobs of the population in coastal areas are at risk.”
A team of oil spill and chemical experts from the United States is working with the government to assess the extent of the damage.
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