NAIROBI - Mauritians are making floating booms of human hair and leaves in a round-the-clock scramble to mop up oil leaking from a grounded Japanese ship onto their pristine Indian Ocean beaches.
The MV Wakashio, owned by the Nagashiki Shipping Company and operated by Mitsui OSK Line, began oozing fuel into turquoise sea waters last week after hitting a reef off the island.
Romina Tello, 30-year-old founder of eco-tourism agency Mauritius Conscious, spent the weekend helping clean black sludge from mangrove swamps. She said Mauritians were making booms to float on the sea out of sugar cane leaves, plastic bottles and hair that people were voluntarily cutting off. Videos online show volunteers sewing leaves and hair into nets to float on the surface and corral the oil until it can be sucked up by hoses.
The oil spill is near the Blue Bay Marine Park, known for its spectacular corals and myriad fish species.
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