We hear about devastating oil spills far too often and it's hard to take in the enormity of the implications. After all, the tanker which went aground on Nightingale Island in the South Atlantic only got 2 minutes on the Today programme this morning and then the news moved on to yet more depressing news.
For me, however, it's far more than that because I sailed past Nighgtingale and Inaccessible Islands last month on the way to St Helena having visited the remote British territory of Tristan da Cunha. In fact, the three islands make up the territory so all three in the archipelago our British. But it's more than a question of nationality. I visited that remote community and met people involved in the crayfish industry. The Queen Mary was sailing past at the time (I was on the Royal Mail Ship and actually got to land) and the islanders took crates of crayfish out to her as a gift.
There are less than 300 people on Tristan and the crayfish is their only export - except for stamps. The destruction of the industry could have massive implications on their community. They were wonderful people - hugely welcoming and generous as is so often the case with small places. The voyage I was on was to mark the evacuatiion of the island 50 years ago when the volcano erupted - so they are accustomed to hardship. But they all went back and that's how much their island and way of life means to them.
This photo is Nightingale Island where the ship went down. Isn't it beautiful? It breaks my heart to think of all those oiled penguins and other birds. The albatross are bound to suffer as well, as will anything which lives off the marine environment. And, of course, when you damage the bottom of the food chain we all suffer in the end.
What amazes me is that shipping is allowed so close to a World Heritage Site in an area which is renowned for its heavy seas. When will we learn?
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