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An oil tanker carrying fuel to the jet was recently struck by a cargoter while he was at anchor at 13 miles off the east coast of England. This sparked a series of large explosions and a huge plume of black smoke, while a still unknown quantity of jet fuel spread in the sea.
We are marine environmentalists from the University of Hull, the city closest to the incident. We know this coast and these seas very well. Although it is too early to say exactly what the consequences will be, we know that this spill endangers one of the most important coastlines in Britain – both for conservation and for commercial fishing.
The collision occurred in the Holderness Offshore Marine Protected AreaA coarse sablonneous sablons background region that supports many different species. These include the Ocean Quahog, a edible palour known to live for over 500 years. The region also acts as a nursery for fish such as the lemon sole, the Plice and the European Sprat.
This area rides those designated to protect Port Porpoisiers And the neighbor Humber estuary and his Mud dishes, sand dunes and marshes Where thousands of birds pass the winters alongside other important species, such as lampreys and gray seals.
The largest colony of Seabird Reproduction on the continent of the United Kingdom is just north of the collision site, along the Flamborough and Coast Filey. More than 250,000 birds are nestled there each year, including an impressive number of quotes and razorbills. It also welcomes species of conservation concerns such as crazy crazy, kitti nodes and puffs.
To the south are others protected ribs and an important Reproduction site for gray seals. Washing, where four rivers are emptying in the same large square -fitting estuary, is 70 kilometers to the south, in the general direction of the teenex collision. The area has large salt marshes and is another important site for overwhelming birds.
