Oil spill \\\'did not kill\\\' dolphin

Forest officials have claimed that oil spill from a sunken oil tanker in Shela River in Chandpai Range in the Sundarbans has not killed any dolphin. However, environmentalists have expressed the fear that the oil slick may endanger dolphins, especially some rare species which are already facing extinction. They claim that dolphins have remained unseen in Sundarbans since tanker ‘OT Southern Star 7’ loaded with over 0.35 million litres of furnace oil sank in Shela River in Sundarbans East Zone under Mongla Upazila in Bagerhat district after it was hit by another cargo vessel at 5am on Tuesday. The experts said that the spill of 358,000 litres of furnace oil from the tanker in the last 1 week would wreak havoc on the health of the world’s largest mangrove forest, including its flora, fauna and animals. Fears deepened as no dolphin was seen for the last 7 days at the sanctuary near the accident spot on Shela River. On Sunday a newspaper published picture of a dead dolphin. Amir Hossain Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of Sundarbans east zone rubbished it. ‘Our team scoured Shela River on Monday morning after receiving a message that dead Irrawaddy dolphins had been spotted in the river’s Andharmanik and Tambul Bunia areas. ‘They did not find anything,’ he claimed.But some forest guards and local fishermen claimed that they saw dead dolphins floating in different canals of Sundarbans.The oil spill due to Tuesday’s tanker capsize has spread further into the canals of the Sundarbans.‘Oil is floating (on the water) as far as it can be seen,’ said forest conservator Karttik Chandra Sarkar. Forest officials said oil from the vessel had spread across 34,000 hectares of forest area. The experts feared that the spill could have catastrophic effects on the Sundarbans heritage. The officials said an oil slick was visible on the waters around Mrigmari, Andharmanik, Tambulbunia, Harintana, Jiwdhara, Dhansagar, Nandabala, Harbarhia, Chandpai Forest Station, Marapashur, Jangrha, Karamjal Wildlife Reproduction Centre, Dhangmari, Ghaghramari and Laudob area. Dolphins used to roam in the waters of Jaimani, known to be a sanctuary for them around the banks of the Shela River. But the creatures have not been seen since the spill, said local fishermen, according to a news agency.