An oil spill reaches a virgin island in the Persian Gulf in Iran

The small uninhabited island of Shidvar is one of the most important protected nature reserves in Iran.

It is home to large coral reefs and is a breeding area for more than 80,000 birds.

The videos, verified by The New York Timesshow large dark ribbons of oil snaking along the island’s pristine white sand beaches.

You can see birds, turtles and crabs trapped inside mounds of tar.

“It is known as the Maldives of Iran: a beautiful place,” said Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

The videos have provided some of the first evidence of the environmental impact the war has had on the area.

Iran has been without internet access since the United States and Israel started the war in late February, which has significantly limited the visibility of the consequences of the conflict.

In one of the videos, a small boat navigates waters darkened by an oil slick, as men on board point to smoke rising from the oil refinery on the nearby island of Lavan.

The videos appear to have been recorded shortly after April 8, when Iranian state media reported the attack on the Lavan refinery, hours after a ceasefire came into effect.

It is unknown why the videos appeared more than a month later, but it is likely due to the recent easing of internet blocking restrictions across Iran.

According to Madani, the cause of the devastation was probably the refinery strikes of Lavan.

“I can say with quite certainty that this video corresponds to the Lavan oil spill, and we know the cause of it,” he added.

Another oil spill has been detected near Kharg Island, one of Iran’s most important oil export and storage centers.

However, the causes are not clear.

Some US officials accuse Iran of having dumped or improperly managed oil in the waters of the Persian Gulf.

Iran has denied this, and Madani said there is no evidence to support the spill theory.

The damage that oil spills have caused to the fragile ecosystem of the Persian Gulf is still unknown.

But they could extend beyond animals, said Manoochehr Shirzaei, an Iranian environmental expert who teaches classes in geophysics and remote sensing at Virginia Tech University.

“Among the most immediate and widespread consequences could be impacts on desalination infrastructure, as many Gulf countries rely heavily on the desalinated sea water for municipal and industrial water supply,” he stated.

“These facilities draw seawater directly from the Persian Gulf, making them highly vulnerable to oil pollution.”

Shirzaei claimed to have detected several oil slicks in the waters of Shidvar and Lavan using satellite images.

It also used satellite images from early May to detect the large oil slick reported near Kharg Island, which could have serious environmental consequences for the region.

The oil spills occur at an especially critical time of year for the region’s delicate ecosystem, experts say.

It is the breeding season for many birds, who may have difficulty finding food for their young on the outskirts of Shidvar Island and may not have time to adapt to the sudden change in their habitat.

On the shores of Shidvar, thousands of baby turtles should be emerging from the sands right now. oil coveredwhich could make your first steps fatal.

According to experts, the impact of this damage could be worsened, since the Persian Gulf is not an open ocean, but rather a semi-enclosed sea, and the slower circulation of water means that oil slicks may persist.

This intensifies the impact on humans and animals and allows the stains to spread.

“Once oil enters the Gulf, it no longer fits the logic of war,” said Iman Ebrahimi, an Iranian conservationist who monitored Shidvar’s bird populations for four years.

“It is introduced into beaches, nests, feathers, turtle hatchlings, fish nurseries and into the bodies of animals that belong to the entire region.”