Mauritians are making floating booms of human hair and leaves in a round-the-clock scramble to mop up oil leaking from a grounded Japanese ship onto their pristine Indian Ocean beaches.
The MV Wakashio, owned by the Nagashiki Shipping Company and operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Line, began oozing fuel into turquoise sea waters last week after hitting a reef off the island.
Mauritius has declared a state of emergency and former colonial ruler France has sent aid in what environmental group Greenpeace said could be a major ecological crisis.