Environmental disaster in Mediterranean

[trux]

If you are in East Med countries, namely Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, Greece and of course Lebanon and Israel, or plan to go there in the next weeks and months, then the following news may be of interest for you.

Yahoo.news - BEIRUT (AFP) - The Mediterranean is threatened by its worst ever environmental disaster after Israel's bombing of a power plant in Lebanon sent thousands of tonnes of fuel gushing into the sea, the environment minister charged.

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The spill is now affecting 70 kilometres (40 miles) of Lebanon's 220-kilometre-long (140 miles) coast, a third of its coastline. Beaches and rocks are covered in a black sludge which has reached the famous tourist town of Byblos, north of Beirut.

"If nothing is done, not only will currents flowing towards the north mean that one third of Lebanon's coastline be hit, but also Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, Greece and even Israel," Sarraf said.

"The fauna and the Mediterranean ecosystem risk suffering badly and certain species are threatened with extinction," he warned.

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[trux]

Some pictures and more details in German are available at Spiegel.de:

photo credit © Spiegel.de

 

[The Killer's me]

Thats where i live...where i was raised...just behind those buildings...i used to run on this shore...
it is called white sand beach...now it is as black as u can see. i will not talk more. but all i can say is...thumbs up to the new civilizations who thinks that they come under the umbrella of being civilized.
HAHAHAHahhahahHAHAHAHAHA......laughing on how ignorant we are...

 

[trux]

I often dream I could be almighty and could bring those who push the buttons and triggers (including those giving the commands to them - generals, presidents, lobbyists,... - regardless of the side), to clean up the mess they caused. To recover and bury bodies of those they killed, to conform the mourning relatives and friends, to cure injured, to clean-up and rebuild what they destroyed, ... and then working the rest of their life to serve their victims. If there was such an absolute justice, I bet there would be much less wars. Unfortunately it will never happen. The justice always served just the stronger ones.

 

[trux]

An update to the development of the ecological catastrophe from the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star:

Although the leakage was stopped, the spill continues to spread. The spill now reached Syrian coast. The cleanup is difficult when not impossible while the bombardment, blockade and embargos continue.

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"The extent of the damage was much more than we had expected," said Wael Hmaidan, an environmental activist who heads the assessment group on the ground. "Our eyes have never witnessed anything as horrifying as what is now happening to the Lebanese environment."
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Lebanon's coast is an important site for sea turtle nesting. During the month of July turtle eggs start to hatch along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The oil spill could also threaten the spawning areas of other species, such as the blue fin tuna, he added, in addition to having nightmarish repercussions on the tourism industry.

Another quote from the Dive Magazine:

'I was shocked at the scale of the damage,' Cherabieh told DIVE. 'The spill had covered the beaches with black patches littering the golden sands and sticky black fuel oil enclosed all rocks and coastal fauna. I now fear for Lebanon's fragile species, especially those that have to surface to survive, such as turtles, dolphins and crabs, some of which now face extinction.'

photo credit © Dive Magazine​

 

[Merlin]

as much as I am for conserving the environment, there are bigger things at stake here than a silly beach...

 

[trux]

as much as I am for conserving the environment, there are bigger things at stake here than a silly beach...

That's for sure, but this is a freediving forum, hence I am trying to post only on-topic information. And this is definitely an event that can have a very serious impact on freediving, spearing, and diving not only in Lebanon, but possibly in much larger areas involving many DB members in Eastern Med countries as far as Greece.

As much as I'd love to discuss the political aspect of the conflict too, especially because I see that a lot of people are misinformed, I do not think that this forum is the proper platform for doing so.

 

[mundial]

you made your point mate
NO ONE whants Environmental disaster no where

Do you know that Israel is the biggest pollution nation in the region :head
i am against it anyway:naughty

but as you can see mate some will that it to the place we dont want
to take this discussion

anyway i hope spearos freedivers fishermans & people can enjoy those beaches back again soon
INSHA'ALLA ( by the help of god in arabic )

 

[trux]

There is a satellite map showing the extent of the spill as of yesterday (Aug 1st 2006):

photo credit © Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information​

As you can see the affected area is rather huge and further growing, although the waste majority of the oil landed on Lebanese beaches and only around 2% of the oil remains in the sea.

More details at http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2006/2006-08-02-03.asp and at the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information

click here to download the map (0.9 MB low resolution)
click here to download the map (1.8 MB medium resolution)
click here to download the map (6.8 MB high resolution; corresponding world-file)

A kml file for displaying the map in Google Earth can be obtained here.

 

[Dobs]

As much as I'd love to discuss the political aspect of the conflict too, especially because I see that a lot of people are misinformed, I do not think that this forum is the proper platform for doing so.

Very well said trux! :king

 

[The Killer's me]

latest update...the diesel feel and smell has hit the underground water reserviors... so if u take a wash or shower...u will smell diesel! so better not to take.

we hope that green peace will take an action.

 

[trux]

For those who are concerned, there are updated satelite photos of the spill on the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information website:

This one (still from Aug 1st 2006) shows it very well (click to enlarge - attention a huge file):

photo credit © Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information​

There is more information, and a sequence of satellite photos showing the development of the spill between July 16th and Aug 1st on the mentioned website​

 

[trux]

An underwater video footage from Lebanon was released by the Lebanese Union of Professional Divers and is available on Greenpeace's website. More information about the current state and the planned clean up is available for example in an article of Canada.com

photo credit © The Daily Star


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[Freediver81]

I didn't know that the extent of the damage is so huge! I hope that the Ecological organisations will start handling the situation ASAP!

Said

 

[The Killer's me]

heheheheeheheh yeah?:head let them remove the blockade first... if a boat will go an inch in the sea, they shoot it.
What a pitty

cheerzZz