Two otters found dead in Sundarbans oil spill, Bangladesh

Autopsy on the two otters, recovered by forests department workers from the river Shela in the Sundarbans on Thursday, have confirmed that they had died from ingestion of oil.

The veterinarians of the forests department on Saturday found furnace oil in the mouths and lungs of the two animals. Previously innumerable otters could be seen in the rivers of the southwest regions, but now they are only found in the Sundarbans. These are enlisted as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Fishermen of Narail and the Sundarbans use otters to catch fish, and National Geographic as well as other wildlife agencies have done researches on this.

After 350 thousand litres of oil was spilled in the river Shela of the Sundarbans in the 9 December tanker capsize, the shipping ministry has stated that this will cause no harm to the forest. The ministry for environment and forest took samples of water from the rivers Shela and Pashur and observed that the water has an adequate level of dissolved oxygen for plants and animals to survive. In other words, the animals and plant life was free of risk.

However, the primary results of the research being led by Professor Abdullah Harun Chowdhury of Khulna University's biology department, show that the dissolved oil in the river waters of east Sundarbans is way above danger level, creating a serious threat to crabs, otters, shrimps, deer, micro plant and animal organisms as well as fish eggs.

Chief conservator of forests Tapan Kumar Dey told Prothom Alo, there is less oxygen and more oil in the water, which is entering the bodies of the animals. The autopsy showed that the two otters had died due to the furnace oil.

Professor Monirul H Khan of Jahangirnagar University's biology department visited the Sundarbans on 12 December. He observed the presence of various species of fish and birds including eagles, seagulls, black hawks, changeable white eagles, and vultures, all of which lived off dead animals. He said, these birds do not normally come to the east Sundarbans in December. They were never seen in the area around this time in the past. They only gather when they smell a large number of dead animals. The presence of eagles, hawks and vultures indicates there are a lot of dead animal bodies in the Sundarbans.

After the tanker capsized on 9 December, a six-member team of the forests department, headed by veterinarians Syed Ahmed and Mofizur Rahman, have been inspecting east Sundarbans daily. Yesterday the team spotted crocodiles and monitor lizards smeared with oil at the Chandpai range of the Sundarbans.

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