Galapagos wildlife endangered by oil spill

Ecuadorian Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendon said the current was pushing the spilt oil towards a colony of sea lions, and warned that the spill could turn into a major environmental disaster.

A team from the U.S. Coast Guard is heading for the Galapagos Islands to help contain the spill and drain oil from the tanker Jessica, which ran aground 800 metres off shore on Tuesday. The vessel was transporting almost 250,000 tonnes of oil.

The weather could disperse oil more rapidly.

Floating barricades have been set up around the tanker, but officials said the slick appeared to be widening despite their efforts.

At least 76,000 litres of fuel have so far been recovered from the bay, but the Ecuadorian authorities said they could not deal with the problem alone.

In a statement, Galapagos National Park Director Eliecer Cruz said the situation was "getting worse because of strong waves forecast" to hit the archipelago.

Cruz said the oil was threatening colonies of sea lions, marine iguanas, birds such as blue-footed boobies and sea life.

(kil/dpa)