Great Barrier Reef faces threats from oil spill and dispersants
April 7, 2010 – 12:35PM (AAP) A marine expert says part of the Great Barrier Reef faces a damaging double whammy from an oil leak and chemicals used to disperse it. Associate Professor Peter Harrison, the director of Marine Studies at Southern Cross University, says coral spawning could be affected later this year. Several tonnes of fuel oil leaked from a coal carrier when it ran aground inside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park on Saturday, and chemicals were used to disperse the resulting slick. Prof Harrison says oil can have dire effects on coral ecosystems and chemicals used to break up slicks are also toxic to corals. “And in some cases the combination of oil and dispersant have increased synergistic effects,” said Prof Harrison, who is also the director of the university’s Coral Reef Research Centre. “This highlights the importance of trapping the oil in booms and physically removing any spilled oil, rather than relying on dispersants.” He said that if any oil became embedded in the coral reef and sand it would have long-lasting effects. It would be spread around tides and wave action, creating “chronic long-term pollution on the affected areas of the reef”. “This could have significant effects on coral spawning later this year, as my research has clearly shown that oils and dispersants significantly reduce coral fertilisation and larval settlement – in other words it reduces coral reproductive success,” he said.
