Mauritius is far from having finished with the oil spill that escaped from MV Wakashio. The Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier operated by a Japanese shipowner, which ran aground on a reef in the southeast of the country on July 25, ended up opening in two or three weeks later, releasing a few more tonnes of 3,200 tonnes of fuel oil and 200 tonnes of diesel in its hull. Thursday, August 20, her bow began to be towed to be sunk fifteen kilometers offshore by 3000 meters deep, while the stern remained stuck in place.
From the first days, the Mauritians mobilized to try to contain the heavy and viscous product, prevent it from creeping into the foot of the mangroves, soiling the crystal-clear waters of the lagoons and the nature reserve of Ile aux Aigrettes. , suffocate corals and stick fish, birds and marine mammals. For lack of sophisticated materials, they gathered by the hundreds to make huge socks of fabric filled with sugar cane straw and plastic bottles to improve flotation. And some have … cut their hair. Not as a sign of despair, but to absorb with their fleece the oil leaks that blacken the surface of the Indian Ocean.
Adsorbent properties
They are not the only ones to bet on this unusual material. From all over France, but also from Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Portugal, cut hair has arrived to feed the collection organized by Capillum. This young company from Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) thus itself responded to a call for solidarity launched from Mauritius by a member of the Project Rescue Ocean association.
“We received… tons. Some have shaved their heads ”, announce in chorus James Taylor and Clément Badellou, the entire team of the Clermont-Ferrand start-up they founded a year ago. Both cannot believe the enthusiasm generated by their initiative and are at a loss to assess the volumes collected. Hair continues to flow in metropolitan France in the seventeen warehouses of the Urby company, with which Capillum has established a partnership. Groomers also offer animal hair. As a health precaution, these fleeces are not accepted. Bags full of human hair are expected to be stored for at least 24 hours to make sure they are free of coronavirus.
“Hair does better than absorb, it is oleophilic and hydrophobic adsorbents which retain hydrocarbons between their scales, expose James Taylor. They are ultra-efficient and can hold up to eight times their weight. In theory, we could even wring them out after having used them and thus recover the oils and hydrocarbons. ”
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