For the past three months, thick crude oil blobs have washed up on beaches along more than 4,400 kilometers (2,700 miles) of Brazil’s coastline, mangroves and reefs in the worst oil spill in the country’s history. The exact date the oil first reached Brazil’s shores is unclear, but government reports point to August 30.
As of December 18, the oil had polluted more than 950 beaches, including some of the country’s most famous, such as Porto de Galinhas, in the state of Pernambuco, and Praia do Forte, in Bahia. The sludge had reached 127 municipalities and 11 states, according to the federal environmental agency Ibama. An estimate of 5,000 tonnes of oil have been removed but new areas continue to be affected.
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