Relieved biologists said today that it was unlikely that the fragile ecosystem of the Galapagos Islands would suffer damage from a 2,000-gallon oil spill earlier in the week.
There were no reports of dead animals or oil pools welling up on the island's white sandy beaches, scientist Jaime Cevallos said from the Charles Darwin science center on Isabela Island, where the spill occurred.
A fuel barge tipped over and sank in heavy seas near Puerto Villamil, the island's capital city, as it was pumping diesel fuel into a tank.
Authorities said there was little danger this spill would reach the proportions of the January 2001 spill of 780,000 gallons of diesel and bunker oil spilled into the sea after an Ecuadorian tanker, the Jessica, ran aground on the Galapagos island of San Cristobal.
Members of the Ecuadorian Navy, the Galapagos National Park and local fishermen worked to prevent the fuel from reaching the beaches around Puerto Villamil, on Isabela Island.
The 13 Galapagos Islands, a World Heritage Site consist of rocky, volcanic outcrops located about 1,000 kilometers (620) miles west of mainland Ecuador.
AFP