Dead whales wash ashore as Mauritius faces oil spill aftermath

“They must have suffered for a long time,” he said.He added that it was “very difficult to think that something other than the oil spill” and the scuttling of the MV Wakashio could have caused their deaths.This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of ServiceThe ship was carrying an estimated 4,000 metric tons of oil, 3,800 tons of very low sulphur fuel oil and 200 tons of diesel when it ran aground, the owner Tokyo-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd said in a statement earlier this month.While the government said it was able to pump much of the fuel out and onto smaller tankers, some gushed from cracks in the ship, streaking the island's turquoise water and threatening its coral reefs, protected lagoons and shoreline — vital for the nation’s main industry, tourism.More than 880 metric tons of oily waste were collected at 14 sites, according to a United Nations report.Hundreds of volunteers also joined citizen-led efforts to contain the spill, which U.N. satellites revealed had “heavily affected” more than 18 miles of the tiny nation’s shoreline.Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politicsThe captain and first officer were arrested on Aug. 18 and charged with endangering safe navigation of the ship, which broke into two parts and was deliberately sunk by Mauritius’ government Monday.The decision was condemned by Greenpeace which has called for investigations into the way the ship has been handled.“Given how fast the decision was made between breaking of the ship and the start of towing we find it highly unlikely that any and all polluting content was removed,” the organization said in an open letter Monday.The oceanographer Kauppaymuthoo said that it was “very difficult to think that something other than the oil spill and scuttling,” could have caused the deaths of animals found on the coastline.However, Mauritius’ Minister of Fisheries Sudheer Maudhoo disagreed with that assessment, telling a press conference Wednesday that he had been informed that the deaths were not linked to the MV Wakashio.NBC News has independently and repeatedly approached the government for comment.Autopsies on some of the creatures are being carried out and many are suspicious of the government’s assessment, including Carina Gounden, a member of Aret Kokin Nu Laplaz, an environmental association of citizens and nongovernmental organizations on the island.“They are insulting our intelligence,” she said, adding that the government had been “too hasty” to conclude there was no link between the ship and the animal deaths.“I have talked to people across the coast,” she said.