The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust say they are on standby to help with any impacts of yesterdays North Sea Tanker collision on local wildlife as Greenpeace say they are extremely concerned about ‘multiple toxic hazards’
A tanker carrying jet fuel was hit by a vessel carrying the toxic chemical sodium cyanide causing a series of explosions and fires.
Director of Operations at the Wildlife Trust - Martin Slater - says if any pollution heads towards the coast it could be a real problem.
East Yorkshire’s coast is home to protected and significant colonies of seabirds including puffins, razorbills, gannets and kittiwakes. Many birds are gathering offshore on the sea ahead of the nesting season. There are significant numbers of Atlantic grey seals in the area, many rearing this year’s young, as well as porpoises and other cetaceans around Spurn.
Yorkshire wildlife Trust say their volunteers are ready to help with any clean up operation if it becomes necessary.
Martin Slater thinks the impact on wildlife of yesterdays tanker collision should become clearer over the next few hours.
Yesterday the winds were in a northerly direction which the YWT says means the impact on the Flamborough area could be negligible. But they say that if pollution spillage enters the Humber it could potentially be devastating for the wildlife of the estuary, including important fish stocks and tens of thousands of overwintering and migrating birds who use the mud flats.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust owns and manages Flamborough Cliffs and Spurn National Nature Reserve. Wilder Humber is a significant marine restoration programme in the Humber, where they are planting seagrass and restoring oysters to improve the habitat and ecosystem of this important estuary.
The Humber Estuary has the highest level of international and domestic protection as a Special Protection Area, Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest. The marine areas around Flamborough Cliffs are also designated as a Marine Protected Area, where activities such as fishing are restricted.
Martin says the collision couldn't have happened in a worse place.
Greenpeace have expressed serious concerns about the threat to marine life posed by the cargoes and bunker fuel of both the chemical tanker and container ship that collided off the Yorkshire coast close to environmentally sensitive areas
Paul Johnston is principal scientist at Greenpeace he says that even if any pollution from the collision doesn't reach the shoreline there could still be serious impacts for marine life.
The tanker involved in yesterdays collision was carrying aviation fuel.
Paul Johnston says that's possibly not as bad for the marine environment as crude oil but he remains concerned about the situation.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said the crash was close to the biggest gannet colony in England and warned a leak could be "lethal" to seabirds.
According to the Humber Coastguard, the chemical tanker Stena Immaculate was carrying jet fuel. At the same time, according to Lloyds List intelligence, the cargo ship was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical, and the integrity of the cargoes overall is unknown. Concerns also remain about other substances which could be released, including the heavier fuel oils used to power the ships
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