While the mainstream media will move on to other things, The #MauritiusOilSpill Newsletter will not.

A bulk carrier carrying 4,000 tonnes of oil ran aground off the south eastern coast of Mauritius in July 2020. MV Wakashio leaked an estimated 1,000 tonnes into the island’s pristine, turquoise lagoons, two weeks later.

The impact has been devastating – on the region’s inhabitants who depend on the sea for their livelihood; on the country’s cultural psyche rocked by the destruction of a national heritage; on our nature with its incredible array of corals, fish, plants, endemic birds and other animals.

It will take months to understand the full extent of the damage. It will take years to repair, remedy and deal with that damage. This is where this newsletter comes in.

Why subscribe?

The #MauritiusOilSpill Newsletter will strive to:

• keep you informed about the oil spill – the fallout, the impact

• give a voice to inhabitants, volunteers, experts

• tell you how you can help wherever you are

Who writes the newsletter?

We are Ariel Saramandi and Khalil A. Cassimally. We are both based in Mauritius.

Ariel is an Anglo-Mauritian writer and essayist. She covered the oil spill for NBC and has written for the Granta, The Los Angeles Review of Books and others. She’s @Ariel_Saramandi on Twitter.

Khalil is a project manager at news website The Conversation. He covered the oil spill for the Guardian and others. He’s @notscientific on Twitter.