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Oil found at Bonaire's East coast, might originate from Tobago -regional media

Oil spots potentially coming from surrounding Tobago have actually reached the island of Bonaire, local media said on Monday, triggering authorities to start arranging security to beaches and mangrove areas.

Considering that an oil spill from a capsized vessel was first spotted by Trinidad and Tobago's Coast Guard on Feb. 7, it has actually blackened the Caribbean country's beaches and is threatening other nations, including Grenada and Bonaire, whose main source of income is tourist.

Part of Bonaire's East coast, near Sorobon, is polluted with oil, according to local papers, radio stations and sites, which explained thick slabs of black dirt floating in the sea, much of which was washed up on the beach.

Posts by Bonaire citizens and a radio station on social media showed pictures of stained sand and reefs, and blackened birds at some beaches.

We expect the oil to continue to clean up on Bonaire over the next 2 days, Bonaire Harbor Master Günter Flanegin informed local reporters on Monday, including the oil had actually not yet been found on the entire East coast.

A comparable occurrence with an oil spill coming from Trinidad happened in 2017. A leakage of recurring fuel oil from a storage tank at a refinery run by Trinidad's state company Petrotrin spilled about 20,000 gallons, which likewise hit Venezuela's Los Roques and Isla de Aves islands.

Bonaire's government did not supply instant remark. The Dutch minister of Infrastructure's Human Environment and Transportation Inspectorate did not right away reply to requests for comment.

Bonaire, a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, has not declared an emergency due to the contamination, but officials from the nation's national forests authority said they might need to safeguard the mangrove-rich location of Lac Bay, the regional media stated.

(source: Reuters)