Throughout October, oil tankers were struck by missiles or sea mines in the waterway and spilled crude into the sea.
asserted
tankers → strike → sea
The pollution has spread across the Gulf, contaminating coastlines and threatening to cause lasting damage to marine ecosystems that are home to dolphins, sea turtles and countless species of fish.
asserted
that → spread → fish
Eight months into the war between the US and Iran, one of the world’s busiest oil shipping routes has become a battlefield and the centre of a growing environmental disaster.
asserted
one → become → disaster
The naval blockade of the strait has made documenting the pollution from on the ground almost impossible.
asserted
documenting → make → ground
But analysis of satellite images, combined with the testimony of environmental experts and marine biologists, can help build up a picture.
asserted
analysis → combine → picture
The strait of Hormuz, the only maritime passage between the Gulf and the Arabian Sea, is home to a rich but fragile marine environment including coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows that support a wealth of marine life.
asserted
that → include → life
It plays a vital role in the circulation of water and nutrients and serves as a migration route for marine mammals.
asserted
It → play → mammals
Even in peacetime, its ecosystems have faced mounting pressure from shipping, oil extraction and coastal development.
asserted
ecosystems → face → shipping
Oil can coat birds’ feathers, making it difficult for them to float and find food.
asserted
them → coat → food
It can cover mangrove roots, preventing the trees from absorbing oxygen and potentially killing them.
asserted
It → cover → them
Bernhard Riegl, a marine biologist at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, who has studied the Gulf for more than 30 years, warned that the war could cause lasting damage to its confined waters, already under severe pressure from the climate crisis.
uncertain
war → study → crisis
“Since the Gulf is shallow, and summer is the least windy period of the year, atmospheric heat is rapidly translated into ocean heat.
asserted
heat → translate → heat
That heat kills corals, algae, fishes.
asserted
heat → kill → corals
There is no cold, deep water that could mix and buffer this heat,” Riegl said.
uncertain
Riegl → be → heat
“Everybody knows that oil in water is not good.
asserted
oil → know → water
Not for the unlucky humans that are drawn into it, nor for the unlucky environment in which the conflict takes place.”
Strikes and spills
Since the war began on 28 February, Greenpeace has identified more than 500 instances of oil spills through satellite monitoring across the Gulf, the strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea.
asserted
Greenpeace → draw → Hormuz
The findings include major spills linked to attacks on vessels, as well as others detected around the time of strikes but whose origins could not be confirmed.
uncertain
origins → include → strikes
“Adding together the daily mapped footprints [of the spills] gives a cumulative total of approximately 20,000 square kilometres – almost the size of Wales,” said Nina Noelle, a Greenpeace expert on environmental disaster relief.
asserted
Noelle → add → relief
More than 133 attacks on oil tankers have taken place since the beginning of the conflict, according to Greenpeace.
uncertain
attacks → take → Greenpeace
October was the worst month, with more than 30 confirmed or reported attacks in the strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
uncertain
October → confirm → Policy
The attacks have continued into November.
asserted
attacks → continue → November
Among the most polluting of the October attacks was a strike on the supertanker Gem No 2 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, which left a slick stretching more than 21 miles (35km).
asserted
left → leave → miles
A satellite image dated 19 October shows a huge patch of black moving into the clear waters off the coast of Umm Al Quwain.
asserted
patch → date → Quwain
Greenpeace estimates that an attack on a tanker in early June resulted in a slick off the coast of Oman that covered more than 600 sq km (230 sq miles) at its peak.
asserted
that → estimate → peak
Two Iranian naval vessels hit in March continued leaking oil for months, said Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental researcher with the Dutch peace organisation Pax.
asserted
Zwijnenburg → hit → organisation
An attack on the Liberian-flagged Minoan Pioneer on 3 August has also been linked to a major slick.
asserted
attack → flag → slick
Oil pollution has reached several coastlines since the war began.
asserted
war → reach → coastlines
In March, a slick from the Shahid Bagheri was detected near the Hara mangroves.
asserted
slick → detect → mangroves
In April, pollution threatened the protected Shidvar Island, home to coral reefs, seabirds and turtles.
asserted
pollution → threaten → reefs
Oil was also reported washing ashore at Qeshm Island in August, near important fishing grounds and turtle nesting sites.
asserted
Oil → report → grounds
Satellite imagery also shows slicks near Oman’s Musandam national park and Iran’s Minab River delta, two areas rich in wildlife.
asserted
imagery → show → wildlife
Musandam is home to coral reefs and seabird breeding grounds, while the Minab delta has protected mudflats and forests of mangroves.
asserted
delta → protect → mangroves
Environmental organisations are continuing to analyse satellite imagery but warn that the full extent of the damage cannot be established without investigations on the ground, which remain extremely difficult.
asserted
which → continue → ground
Some of the researchers and environmentalists contacted for comment in Iran and Gulf states said they had been instructed by domestic authorities not to speak publicly about the environmental damage caused by the war.
asserted
they → contact → war
Establishing responsibility is not straightforward, but Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been blamed for most of the attacks.
asserted
Corps → establish → attacks
US forces have also targeted tankers, disabling Iranian vessels attempting to cross a US naval blockade and striking others in response to Iranian missile attacks on US warships.
asserted
forces → target → warships
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the largest oil spill was caused by a strike carried out by the UAE’s air force on oil storage tanks on Lavan Island.
uncertain
spill → accord → Island
The strikes resulted in crude oil flushing into the Gulf and affecting coastal areas, including the nearby nature reserves of Shidvar Island.
asserted
oil → result → Island
In some instances, countries bordering the strait have responded to spills.
asserted
countries → border → spills
After the attack on the Gem No 2, for instance, the UAE closed beaches, launched a major cleanup and monitored its desalination plants.
asserted
UAE → close → plants
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
