Ecuador Declares Emergency Over Galapagos Islands Oil Spill

The government declared a national emergency in the Galapagos Islands on Monday after an oil spill half a mile from shore continued to float into the archipelago, threatening some of the world’s rarest sea animals and birds, officials said.

“For us, this is the equivalent of an earthquake,” said presidential spokesman Alfredo Negrete, explaining that the state of emergency would let the government immediately channel the funds needed for cleanup.

The Galapagos Islands, in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles west of Ecuador, are home to hundreds of endemic species--including giant tortoises and iguanas--that evolved over thousands of years.

The spill began Friday when a pipe burst in the machine room of the Ecuadorean-registered tanker Jessica, which ran aground last Tuesday near the Galapagos’ capital and principal port, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal Island. It grew worse over the weekend when tanks carrying 240,000 gallons of fuel leaked 144,000 gallons into the waters, home to tropical fish, pelicans and sea lions.

The Jessica was on its way to service a private tour boat operator and Petrocomercial, an arm of the state oil company that provides the islands with fuel. A team of U.S. Coast Guard specialists helped recover about 10,000 gallons of fuel from inside the tanker Monday.

The spill is far smaller than that of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989, but it has sparked an outcry because of the ecological makeup of the Galapagos.