Multiple oil spills are visible from space after Iranian and US-Israeli strikes hit oil facilities and ships in the region, with experts warning of an impending environmental catastrophe.
Satellite images are giving an insight into the destruction in the region, including the fragile biodiversity of the Persian Gulf. Oil spilt there has the potential to affect the lives and livelihoods of people along the Gulf coastlines, as well as the region’s rich marine life.
One image, taken on April 7, shows a spill spanning more than five miles in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran’s Qeshm Island. An Iranian vessel, the Shahid Bagheri, leaked oil in the same area after US forces hit the vessel in February
Another image shows oil around Lavan Island after what Iranian state media called a hit “by enemies” on an oil facility near the island’s coast on April 7.
The hit on Lavan is a “major environmental emergency,” said Wim Zwijnenburg, a project leader at Dutch peace organisation PAX, who tracks the consequences of strikes around the Gulf.
At least five locations on Lavan were damaged, with subsequent spills happening around the island and oil leaking into the sea. The spills are “also now reaching the Shidvar Island, which is a protected site. It’s uninhabited, but it has a range of protected species there.
Shidvar Island is a coral island in the Persian Gulf, around one mile east of Lavan Island, that is rich in wildlife, including turtles and seabirds.
