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Rainforest rangers search for oil penguins in the shallow waters around St Croix Island, off the South African coast, while a spill of fuel revives ecologists' fears of pollution.
The experts said that an unknown number of penguins had been affected on this uninhabited rocky island, home to the largest breeding colony of endangered African penguins in the world.
A Liberian-flagged vessel dumped between 200 and 400 liters of oil in the sea off the Port Elizabeth town during a refueling – the process of refilling a ship with fuel from D & # 039; Another ship.
The small-scale escape of the bulk carrier MV Chrysanthi at dawn on Saturday was the second spill of oil in the environmentally sensitive area in three years.
"This is exactly the problem of" bunkering "at sea that is causing concern," said Stacey Webb, of the South African Shorebird Conservation Foundation (SANCCOB), to AFP.
"The danger has not yet pbaded, and the penguins feed a hundred kilometers from the islands (St Croix and Bird Islands) to find themselves at sea."
About 20 penguins covered in black mud have been saved until now by rangers in national parks.
The weekend spill follows that of August 2016, when about 100 birds were affected by a smaller spill.
The "bunkering" only started in the port of Ngqura, which is part of the Algoa Bay, in 2016, the shipping industry by promoting its economic dynamism for the region.
The Bay's development projects into a major hub for refueling international ships have generated widespread controversy, with environmental advocates and the tourism sector arguing that the risk of pollution is too high.
Declining population
African penguins, which are only found in South Africa and Namibia, are also known as jackbad penguins for their ember cry.
They colonized a beach near Cape Town in the 1980s and have since become a major tourist attraction.
But there are only 50,000 mature African penguins alive, according to the UN Red List for Conservation.
"Does the money generated by the" bunkering "in Algoa Bay deserve to put the survival of a species at risk?" asked Jack Peeton, director of Raggy Charters, a tour operator who organizes whale watching tours and deep sea excursions.
He stated that he had taken tourists on Monday on the island of St. Croix, only to be "greeted by the sinister sight of rangers charging penguins covered with thick oil in small boats. ".
Peter Myles, a tourism consultant in Port Elizabeth, said the region plays a unique role in penguin survival.
"The" bunkering "in Algoa Bay has been discussed with regulatory concerns," he told AFP.
"There are important risk factors for the environment and the island of St. Croix is home to the largest breeding population of African penguins on the planet."
The government described the weekend spill as a "first level incident" that did not require national intervention, even though he added that strong winds hindered operations.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) has launched an aerial surveillance to determine the extent of the oil spill, which drifts towards the sea rather than towards the coast.
Neville Noble of Samsa told AFP that the fueling was in line with the government's policy to open up the sea economy as part of the so-called Phakisa operation and that the operators were subject to a "strict audit process".
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