Mystery Israel Oil Spill Is Its Worst Environmental Disaster in Years

Tar began washing up on Israel’s shores over the weekend, and on Sunday the government told the public to avoid going to beaches along the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of volunteers, including some from the country’s military, the Israel Defense Forces, were dispatched over the weekend to clean up tar along the beaches. The fumes from the spill were so noxious that some volunteers were hospitalized.

“This is [a] hazard of a magnitude we have not seen in years,” Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said. “We are doing everything in order to find those responsible for the destruction, and are preparing for the difficult and long task of rehabilitating the beaches and preventing further injury to animals.”

Photos shared on Twitter show that tar has reached the shores of Lebanon. While officials say they are not worried about the tar impacting drinking water, the damage to wildlife may be severe. Volunteers say that turtles, fish, and birds have all been impacted by the spill. The spill may also be affecting larger wildlife: The body of a 55-foot (16.8-meter) fin whale washed ashore on Thursday, and experts say its death may be tied to the spill.

“In terms of the aquatic ecology, I believe that the images we are seeing are pretty self-evident. It’s horrible for marine life,” Ben-Gurion University environmental microbiologist Edo Bar-Zeev told The Jerusalem Post. “We will continue to find this substance on the Israeli beaches for quite a while, and the tar will keep on releasing the carbon it contains back into the ocean.”

We’re not actually not sure what is responsible for the mess. Rough weather hit ships off the coast last week, and officials say it’s likely that oil or gas spilled from one or more of ten vessels. The government says it is working to identify the source of the spill to hold those accountable.