South Korea spill creates ‘oil balls,’ threatening fish

A week after a crane on a barge punched holes in a tanker that then leaked 10,500 tons of crude oil, densified parts of the spill have fallen to the sea floor and washed up on beaches, a coast guard official said.

The dense oil can kill fish, marine plants and plankton, in effect wiping out marine life in the affected areas, said Park Jeong-woon, director of nature ecosystem conservation at Green Korea United group.

“Oil balls are the typical signal of secondary pollution,” she said.

They are more difficult to remove than initial parts of the spill.

More than 25,000 people on Friday used shovels, absorbent cloth and their rubber-gloved hands to remove oil from west coast beaches about 150 km (95 miles) southwest of Seoul that were once popular with tourists.

Oil balls have been spotted near the Anmyeon peninsula on the west coast, another region famed for its sandy beaches, scenic sunsets and a nature reserve.

“Overall, the pollution is on a southward movement trend,” the coast guard said in a statement.

That triggered concern among conservationists that the spill could affect tidal flats further south, which they said are some of the most important areas for migratory birds and for biodiversity in the Yellow Sea and East Asia.

“If the oil impacts the area, it would be an unbelievably tragic loss of biodiversity of the Yellow Sea,” said Nial Moores of the conservation group Birds Korea.

The maritime ministry has conceded it was not properly prepared for the tanker disaster and did not have enough equipment.

A team of U.S. Coast Guard and oceanic experts have arrived in the area to assist with clean-up efforts. China and Japan have pledged equipment, South Korean officials said.

The tanker involved in the spill, the Heibei Spirit, will be scrubbed and taken into port in the next few days to remove its remaining cargo of crude, a coast guard official said.

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