Worry As Galapagos Oil Spill Spreads

Jan. 22, 2001 -- In one of the world's most fragile ecosystems, cleanup teams are fighting an oil spill the size of Los Angeles.

A tanker ran aground last week off San Cristobal Island, and this morning, the tanker was practically on its side, the waves breaking just 500 yards from land.

Despite their best efforts, officials said 200,000 gallons of engine fuel had already leaked from the hull, endangering the islands' 5,000 species of plants and animals — many of which had evolved for thousands of years in isolation with little human intervention.

The oil slick was putting sea lions, pelicans and crabs at risk — as well as the rare Galapagos Penguin.

Ecuador, which has sovereignty over the islands, has appealed for international help to contain the spill. The country's environment minister, Rodolfo Rendon, said the "environmental damage is extremely grave."

Efforts from Abroad

A tremendous relief effort has been mobilized to combat the oil slick.

A Coast Guard team from Mobile, Ala., has been trying, against the odds, to pump any remaining fuel from the ship so that it won't spill into the ocean.

"The best thing that you can do is take care of the oil here at the source of pollution, where it's concentrated," said Ed Stanton, the leader of the team.

They have specialized oil spill equipment, such as inflatable oil containment barges, and high-capacity pumps to help remove remaining fuel from the ship's storage tanks.

Each inflatable oil containment barge has a capacity to hold 26,000 gallons of the fuel pumped out of the ship until it can be offloaded later.

"The team will advise and help local officials in their efforts to control and contain the spill, which will include assistance to pump out the fuel, erect floating walls and offer advice on how to stabilize and salvage the ship," said Dan Dewell, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman.

"The bottom line is once oil gets out of a ship, it is virtually impossible to remove or contain in on the open ocean," said Stanton.

Hundreds of people from around the islands also gathered in the harbor to help in any way they could.

Fishermen joined in the effort, skimming the oil off the water and pouring the sludge into barrels in their dinghies.

Others scoured the shorelines, wiping oil off rocks or picking up birds and washing them by hand.

"You become sympathetic and empathetic with the people that are here. They've never experienced anything like this. And for them, it's an emotional turmoil," Stanton said.

Loved to Death

In a cruel irony, the Ecuadorean-registered "Jessica" was in the area to deliver fuel for tour boats, which bring many of the island's 45,000 visitors, when it ran aground.

This means the environment was damaged, in part, because so many people were coming to visit it.

The "Jessica" was carrying 243,000 gallons of diesel, and ran aground because the captain was navigating through shallow waters without a map, according to Environmental Ministry spokesman Mauro Cerbino.

The Galapagos are hallowed ground to many scientists. Charles Darwin derived his theory of natural selection here.

Now many of the fish he saw are in danger because pollutants could sink and kill the algae that supports much of underwater life.

Hope and Despair

The international conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned the spill could have "a deep and lasting impact" on the local ecosystem.

Peter Kramer, World Wide Fund for Nature's Network Relations director, and former president of the Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands, said animals had already been covered with oil.

"Once that happens to sea lions or birds, they are most likely to die and we might see dead animals floating on the waters later."

While the spill has so far only affected the southern portion of the archipelago, Kramer warned that damage to the food chain in the region's sensitive ecosystem could affect the extremely vulnerable Galapagos Penguin, the world's smallest penguin species.

Late today though, the news was encouraging — wind and currents were carrying most of the spill away from land.

"I have a mixture of anxiety about the situation, and relief that we've been lucky," said Robert Bensted-Smith, Director of the Charles Darwin Research Station.

ABCNEWS’ Ned Potter and ABCNEWS.com’s Leela Jacinto contributed to this report.