Oily Beaches on the West Coast (in particular Zekreet) ?
By Waveshredder •
Went to the west coast yesterday (Zekreet). When walking into the water we stepped into an ugly smelling black fluid just below the first layer of sand. Does anybody know about oil pollution in that area? Also the rocks around Zekreet are black.
Your right its not oil but natural, its a very shallow anoxic layer of sediment. Anoxic = no oxygen. This is where other (micorscopic)organisms turn to breaking down compounds to derive energy, sometimes a bad/sulphur smell and that distinctive colour. Anoxic layers are found in sediment that doesn't get disturbed / turned over very often to allow aeration either through physical means (waves etc.) or biological (worms etc.).
[img_assist|nid=49348|title=Oily Sand?|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]here is a pic I took yesterday - actually this looks natural to me; perhaps there is a natuarl oily layer below the sand?!?
Yes you are right, however, should fish be contaminated the Municipality for Agriculture is responsible for this, because if it is on the beach it may be in the sea too.
MMAA arent the responsible govt party, Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Reserves are the entity responsible BUT oil is easy to see and tell if old or new if its sludgy its older.
You'll literally be getting your hands dirty going there with a sample......
It may well be an algae that dies and washes up on shore, turning black and emitting an odour in the process.
Without seeing what you are referring to it's a bit premature to say it's one thing or another.
It would probably be better to fill a container and take it to the Ministry of Agriculture and have it analysed
It may be oil contamination but it may be a lot of other things
The black staining on the rocks may be bacterial/cyanobacteria rather than oil. This is a common mistake here in the Gulf.
The black sand my be anoxic (lacking oxygen) sediment, naturally occuring in this area especially with small tidal range and limited circulation of seawater.
May be natural oil from a seep. Maybe remanat from previous spill - by now should be a tar....
Pictures say a thousand words.
If you ever head there, could you take some photos for me?
I've written a HUGE thesis on the Environmental responsibility of refineries in Qatar and I'd love to slap a few companies.
But as deedee said, does it look natural, or is it man-made?
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Is this a new phenomenon, or something that has always been there? When we lived in Santa Barbara, California there were certain beaches (not all--it depending on whether they faced west I seem to recall) that were ALWAYS oily. It was not due to anything that the evil oil companies did--although the environmentalist always wanted to blame them-- but rather a natural occuring seepage or oil.
Very strange; the colour and the smell of the sand might perhaps originate from polluted air (from oil flares?)or oily residuals in the water; anyhow I think it should be better not to let our children play on these beaches.
We went to Zekreet about 1 year ago and found the same thing. It was terrible.