ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Galapagos Oil Spill

ENVIRONMENT REPORT
–
July 26, 2002: Galapagos Oil Spill

By George Grow

(Photo -noaa.gov)
This is the VOA Special English Environment Report.

Scientists say that as many as fifteen-thousand marine¹ iguanas³ died on one of the Galapagos Islands after an oil
spill last year. The scientists are not exactly sure what killed the creatures. Yet they suspect the oil spill was to
blame.

Marine iguanas are found only in the Galapagos Islands. They are the only lizards⁴
that live in the sea. They are found along coastal⁵ rocks. They dive underwater to
search for plants to eat.

The Galapagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean, about nine-hundred kilometers west
of Ecuador. They are famous for the unusual plants and animals that live there. That
is because the plants and animals developed differently from those on the nearest
continent, South America.

An Ecuadoran oil transport ship hit the coast of San Cristobal Island in the

Galapagos in January, two-thousand-one. Hundreds of thousands of liters of oil
spilled into the sea. Only a few creatures died immediately after the shipwreck⁶. The weather and ocean currents
broke up most of the oil spill.

However, a new report says the spill had a far greater effect. Martin Wikelski is an ecologist at Princeton
University in the American state of New Jersey⁷. He and his team have studied Galapagos marine iguanas since
nineteen-eighty-seven. Their latest findings were reported in Nature magazine.

The scientists estimate that the iguana² population on one island, Santa Fe, dropped sharply during the eleven
months after the oil spill. They say the number of marine iguanas fell from twenty-five-thousand to ten-thousand.
The scientists found that the oil spill did not seem to harm other areas. They found no change in the death rate of
marine iguanas on the island of Genovesa.

Mister Wikelski is still trying to find out why the marine iguanas on Santa Fe Island died. He suspects the
creatures swallowed oil and it killed bacteria in their stomachs. He thinks the bacteria help marine iguanas break
down the plants they eat. As a result, the iguanas that lacked the bacteria may have starved to death.

Mister Wikelski says even small amounts of pollution can have severe effects on wild animals. He and officials
of the Galapagos National Park are taking legal action against Ecuador’s state oil company, which owned the
ship.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by George Grow.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 iguana   

n.美洲大蜥蜴，鬣鳞蜥

参考例句：

• With an iguana,you really don't have to say surprise.惊喜两字已经不足以形容这只鬣鳞蜥了。
• I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguanadj.打开计算机准备制作一部关于我的宠物蜥蜴的电影。

3 iguanas   

n. 美洲蜥蜴 名词iguana的复数形式

参考例句：

• Galapagos land iguanas belong to the genus Conolophus, of which there are currently three recognised species. 加拉帕戈斯陆栖鬣蜥属于鬣蜥属，其中目前得到确认的有三个物种。
• Feral cats in the region could be eating eggs and young iguanas, Gentile speculates. 这一区域的野猫可能正在吃鬣蜥蛋及其幼崽，金泰尔猜测。

4 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。