Sea Lions Dying From Oil Tanker Spill

Sea lions are dying from an oil spill that’s washing up on Uruguay’s Atlantic coastline, the navy said Thursday.

The animals were found dead near Isla de Lobos, an island sanctuary for the animals east of the upscale resort of Punta del Este, Capt. Daniel Loureiro told reporters. The navy hasn’t determined how many sea lions have died.

The oil, spilled from a Panamanian tanker that ran aground Saturday, has washed up along large stretches of beach jammed with Southern Hemisphere summer visitors, many of them from neighboring Argentina and Brazil.

The San Jorge tanker, carrying 370,000 barrels of crude oil, was headed from southern Argentina to the Brazilian port of Sao Sebastian when it ran aground. It’s not known how much of the oil has seeped out.