and 15 have spilt up to 30,000 tonnes of crude oil into the Mediterranean Sea. This has created an ecological disaster that Lebanon's government has neither the money nor the expertise to deal with, nor can it do anything while the air strikes continue.

"We have never seen a spill like this in the history of Lebanon. It is a major catastrophe," Environment Minister Yacoub al-Sarraf told Reuters.

"The equipment we have is for minor spills. We use it once in a blue moon to clean a small spill of 50 tonnes or so. To clean this whole thing up we would need an armada ... The cost of a full clean-up could run as high as $40-50 million." The spill is especially threatening since fish spawn and sea turtles nest on Lebanon's coast, including the green turtle which is an endangered in the Mediterranean, local ecologists say.

An Israeli warship that was struck by a Hezbollah missile on July 15 may also have spilled diesel oil into the sea.
Lebanon has asked Kuwait for help but the Israeli air and sea blockade in place since the war began on July 12 is hampering both the clean-up and the delivery of equipment.

The migratory season is over so seabirds should not be badly affected but July is hatching season for turtle eggs and baby turtle hatchlings need to reach deep water as fast as possible to avoid predators.