La Digue ‘oil film’ was normal organic matter |22 August 2006

Samples of what was at first thought to be traces of lubricating oil were examined in the laboratory over the weekend, as clean up teams went to the affected beach.

The results, however, showed it was only organic material and the clean up team therefore found little to clear because much of the matter had started to decompose naturally, the director for pollution control, Flavie Joubert, said yesterday.

“It turned out to be organic matter, most probably from spawning sea organisms, which had turned into a foam given the strong winds that had prevailed,” Mr Joubert said.

He said that the samples were examined at the Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology, but more samples would be taken overseas to verify exactly what kind of organic material it was. He noted that most of it has since disappeared, and that it posed no risk to bathers.

“In fact fishermen said that it was a common occurrence during this season,” Mr Joubert said.