Australia's latest oil spill occurs weeks before hundreds of turtles head to area to lay eggs

As hundreds of females turtles make their way to Australia's Queensland world-heritage Fraser Island in a few weeks time to lay their eggs, state government officials are working round the clock to clean-up an oil spill that occurred at the beach-front earlier in the week.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Head of Ocean Richard Leck told Xinhua on Wednesday said that it was unfortunate to have an oil spill happened at Fraser Island so close before the coastline gets swamped with hundreds of female turtles, all heading to the area to lay their eggs.

"It's about the biggest natural event ever in the year," Leck said referring to the female turtles.

"You would think that in a day and age like this, there shouldn't be a spilt but it still happens in our environment," he said.

Queensland rangers had first discovered the "oil patties" scattered around the shores of Fraser Island late Monday afternoon and authorities have then been swift in taking remedial actions to clean up the oil spill.

Queensland State Minister for Main Roads and Ports Mark Bailey in a statement on Wednesday said around two dozen officers from Maritime Safety Queensland, Roadtek, Queensland Parks, Wildlife Service and the Queensland Police Service have been assessing the area since Tuesday with more help from relevant authorities underway.

"A barge delivered about a dozen specialist oil shoreline clean-up workers with equipment yesterday afternoon (Tuesday afternoon) in preparation for work to begin this morning (Wednesday)," Bailey said.

Bailey added a list of ships known to have been in the area over the past week is currently being compiled to track the culprit who caused the oil spill down.

"Any oil spill incident in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park or our coastal waters is regarded as serious and we are well-resourced to respond," Bailey added.

Meanwhile, Queensland State Environment Minister Steven Miles in statement on Wednesday said the oil patties were dispersed mildly along about 60 km of high tide line from the wreck of the Maheno north of Eurong to Dilli Village in the south, varying from the size of a ten-cent coin to a five-dollar note.

"Experience has shown the best way to clean-up the beach is to remove the patties by rake and shovel," Miles said.

"This minimises the impact on the environment and reduces the amount of additional sand collected.

"This can be a time-consuming and physically demanding process and we have ensured we have sufficient personnel to work on rotation to get the job done," Miles said, adding that there were no reports of wildlife being affected by the event.

The last oil spillage incident occurred on July 2015, when 10 to 15 tonnes of oil was spilled off Cape Upstart, a National park in Queensland.

Maximum fines for a corporation on a discharge offence includes a 11.78 million Australian dollars (9.05 million U.S. dollars) fine under Queensland law and 17 million Australian dollars (13 million U.S. dollars) fine under Commonwealth law. Endit