to an untrained eye, it would be difficult to discern that this was the site of mauritius’s greatest oil spill disaster just two years previous; however, still lurking beneath the water’s surface are remnants of one of the most complicated environmental disasters ever faced by mauritius –– especially for the nation’s young people.

the 2020 oil spill

during the evening hours of july 25, 2020, japanese-owned bulk carrier mv wakashio ran aground on a coral reef just off the southern shore of mauritius. in addition to the reef, near the lodged ship were also several other protected environmental areas, including blue bay marine park, pointe d’esny mangroves, and the Île aux aigrettes. according to the un convention on biological diversity, the mauritian marine environment is home to an estimated 1,700 unique species, including around 800 kinds of fish, 17 types of marine mammals, and two species of turtles. Île aux aigrettes is home to some of the rarest species on earth, including the pink pigeon, mauritius fody, and bojer’s skink –– many of which were in direct threat because of the oil spill.

at the time of the oil spill, the vessel, flying a panamanian flag, was sailing to brazil from china. while the wakashio did not have any cargo on board, officials reported it was carrying 3,984 tons of a new low-sulfur fuel oil, 207 tons of diesel, and an additional 90 tons of lubricant oil. the vessel had veered an estimated 55 nautical miles off standard shipping lanes at the time of the grounding. the captain would later cite an attempt to access cell phone reception, coupled with distractions related to a birthday party taking place onboard, as reasons for the significant course deviation.

rough seas and a slow response from governmental stakeholders quickly turned what might have been a minor accident into a massive environmental and economic disaster. the lack of precedent marine oil spills of the low-sulfur “frankenstein fuel,” which behaves differently than standard fuel when suspended in water, further hindered initial response efforts. salvage teams arrived and began to work to mitigate effects of the grounding on july 26, but they were quickly removed after monitoring officials detected several cracks on the ship’s hull. before their evacuation, response teams pumped a portion of the fuel off of the vessel, but the ship continued to split. on august 6, cracks in the tanks became large enough that the fuel oil started to ooze unabated into the marine ecosystem –– creating large clouds acting as a visible indicator to the public of the situation’s gravity. 

on august 7, 13 days after the grounding of the wakashio, mauritian prime minister pravind jugnauth declared a state of emergency, stating the nation did not have “the skills and expertise to refloat stranded ships.” as the government waited for foreign assistance, conservation groups around mauritius sprung into action in an attempt to contain the oil spill. volunteers dashed to collect materials and construct containment booms themselves, stuffing a skeleton of cloth and buoyant plastic bottles with human hair to help absorb the oil. sugarcane farmers on the island also donated around 8 tons of bagasse, fibrous remains of the harvesting process, for use as an alternative filler for the booms.

“we were googling things, learning how to contain the spill on our own. you didn’t see any guidance from the government or other organizations,” gwenael monasie, now 22 years old and studying business management, noted. “we were just doing our best and hoping that was enough.” as a volunteer at the spill site, he harnessed his personal network to get more volunteers and worked to sew and fill the handmade booms.

mv wakashio split into two distinct pieces on august 15, estimated by responders to be holding around 90 tons of fuel at the time. since the ship’s initial leaks a week earlier, around 1,000 tons of the franken-fuel was spilled into the reefs and surrounding marine ecosystem.

several days later, the mauritian government sunk the remaining forward section of the vessel 13 nautical miles offshore in an area known to be a whale nursing and breeding ground. despite officials assuring this would have no effect on the ecosystem, an estimated 39 dolphins and whales beached between the hull completing sinking on august 24 and the publishing of a non-governmental report on august 28. 

protecting “mama nature”

this july marks two years since the mv wakashio oil spill. though environmental ngos have left the island and news coverage of the disaster has ceased, youth around mauritius are still reeling from the effects of the tragedy.

“many of us view nature as very sacred,” fatimah dowlut, a recent graduate of a small private mauritian university told me. “we often call our environment mama nature –– mother nature –– in creole. we are quite close to nature, so there was a feeling of proudness, being able to contribute [to the clean up efforts].” she continued, “i still feel quite proud of my country and of the people around me because this was like one of those rare situations where everyone was together in a way, but i also fear about the long-term damage to the sea. we absolutely love our sea and the blue water and the clean, crystal water as well. so the thought of fishes dying, of the marine ecosystem being destroyed, that hurts.” 

starting in primary school, mauritian students are taught the importance of the country’s coral reefs and how to promote their protection. multiple mauritians i spoke with recounted local ngo educators visiting their classes, showing them artifacts related to reef conservation and facilitating hands-on activities to illustrate their roles in protecting the environment. because protection of the natural world is stressed so much in mauritian culture, many were surprised by the governmental inaction in responding to the oil spill and the lack of local media coverage early on.

thekishta beerachee, 23, said, “when the spill happened, i realized the gravity of the situation when international media started posting about it –– talking negatively about how the island has not been able to solve the situation quickly and had a delayed reaction that could have prevented the oil spill… same with the celebrities i follow on instagram that [were talking] about it.”

“it was a situation where you don’t believe it is happening to you or your country because it was so bad,” she explained. “people from all social backgrounds immediately started looking for solutions, working together to help prevent the oil from spreading throughout the lagoon. it was quite emotional –– something happens in your country and suddenly everyone was involved trying to help out.”

even after official cleanup concluded, the physical effects of the oil spill were still present. “i went to a beach in the south in february 2021 and you could still spot the oil traces on the water,” ramma elysia, a first-year student at the university of mauritius, told me. “you cannot swim in that water. you cannot fish. all of the sea creatures were toxic… there was no way to undergo business, creating a major disadvantage for a nation that relies on beaches for so many parts of our lives.”

on the other side of the island, thekishta didn’t know anyone who worked as a fisherman in the south, the region still feeling the most severe impacts of the oil spill. for her and her friends in the north, the impacts were less tangible, though thekishta noted that the spill made her more engaged politically, especially around environmental issues. “becoming a young adult, i feel like there are things that should be prioritized that are not,” she said.

mauritian youth dive in  

the wakashio oil spill was also a catalyst to action for gwenael, who has been active within environmental activism groups across the island since he was in grade school. “[taking care of the environment] is our responsibility,” he said. “i knew that i couldn’t sit home and watch others working to protect it –– i had to be out there helping.” 

“a lot of us leave the country and get educated elsewhere, and then come back to implement projects here,” gwenael explained. “we chat a lot about things that impact the island –– climate change being one of them. [even after the spill], there’s virtually no action by the government outside of cleaner energy… it’s frustrating for all of us.” 

globally, these are feelings many youth can relate to. in fact, a recent lancet study of 10,000 people in ten countries between ages 16 to 20  found more than 65% of participants thought government inaction to climate change related issues is “failing young people,” with 60% feeling governments are “dismissing peoples’ distress” around such issues. the same survey indicated a meager 33% percent of participants felt the government was “protecting me, my future, the planet, and future generations” and 31% felt the government was “doing enough to avoid catastrophe.”

gweneal points to these feelings as one reason why many young people aren’t staying in mauritius. “i don’t think older people don’t care,” he said. “it’s just as young people, we think it’s our responsibility to do our best to have a future here. this means protecting the environment as best as we can. hopefully, the government will soon help.” 

fortunately, these apprehensions haven’t stopped mauritian youth from gathering together to continue pushing for environmental change and celebrating their accomplishments. “very rarely will you see situations where all mauritians have the same goal –– of protecting our country,” fatimah mentioned. “​​the productiveness of the mauritian people was beyond that of the government. and because there were so many people –– they were super active, they had the support of many private companies, so they started getting resources. only then, the government started to catch up a little bit.” she explained that many people her age feel responsible to keep this momentum for change going, pushing the government to enact legislation necessary to better protect the myriad of ecosystems around mauritius in addition to the creatures within them.

“we are very proud of what we’ve done,” gweneal echoed.  “if you are a friend i text every day or even if we’ve just met, we’re all trying together to help protect our shores… it’s already a disaster. we shouldn’t make it worse [through division].” 

gwenael has been able to keep in contact with many of the people he met volunteering at the shore and is hopeful they can get together once again as covid-19 restrictions are lifted further in mauritius.  he also mentioned wanting to try to connect all of the oil spill volunteers –– estimated to be several thousand of individuals — via social media groups to keep everyone informed for future projects and ready to respond to an environmental catastrophe if the need arises again on the island. 

“as a 20-year-old, i wasn’t really thinking that way. now, as i’m 22 and a little bit more mature, i don’t think we need to wait until the next disaster to bring such a team together.”

over the span of a few short years, we would weather six more ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ hurricanes: arthur, matthew, florence, michael, dorian and isaias. i watched as the beaches i built sandcastles and collected seashells on in the summer permanently slipped into the lapping waves. the marshes where i would watch egrets and herons play became too flooded to reach. and the neighborhood dock where i launched kayaks from became inaccessible most hours of the day. 

one evening, i was attending a town meeting for a school assignment when it clicked that the “nuisances” i was experiencing were actually the direct impacts of climate change. and it was only going to get worse if we, both youth and adults, did not act together. i jumped into climate advocacy, much of which centered around human health, balancing it with my other obligations as a high schooler. lying awake at night, i would wonder why others couldn’t see the problem at hand or join in to help find solutions to rising tides and a warming climate.

chatting with sena wazer, currently 17-years-old and the co-director of the connecticut chapter of sunrise movement, a youth-led climate activist organization with hubs operating in major cities around the united states, i realized she had a similar experience that threw her into action. initially passionate about the impacts of altering ocean temperatures on whales, sena quickly realized climate change was a far more expansive issue after reading a report published by the united nations when she was 14 years old. 

“i was concerned and upset about the issues facing whales and the oceans, but they were far away from me. the report made it seem like climate change was a much more personal issue and that i had the responsibility to act or i risked losing control of my future,” sena said. 

our experiences as young people are far from uncommon. in fact, there’s a name for it: ecoanxiety. while not an actual psychological diagnosis, the american psychological association defines it as “the chronic fear of environmental cataclysm that comes from observing the seemingly irrevocable impact of climate change and the associated concern for one’s future.” 

although ecoanxiety impacts all ages, its influences are disproportionately felt among young people. a recent research preprint in the lancet surveyed more than 10,000 people ages 16-25 across ten countries, finding 59% of respondents were “very or extremely worried” about the impacts of climate change and more than 84% were “at least moderately worried”. 

prior to the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, young people working in climate advocacy would come together at rallies, public forums and other community events to validate and support each other and amplify their voices. during lockdown, youth activists increased their presence on platforms like twitter and instagram to continue advocating for change, finding it a far from viable substitute for in-person gatherings.  “the pandemic made the work much harder,” sena noted. “i gain the most energy and excitement from interacting with others equally as passionate about finding solutions to climate change as i am. overnight, the opportunities to do that were gone.” 

these existing feelings, compounded in many by cop26’s resolution, make the importance of prioritizing mental well-being as a climate activist paramount. some universities have developed academic courses and workshops aimed at mitigating ecoanxiety among their students, including institutions like the university of washington, university of helsinki, london school of hygiene & tropical medicine and university of connecticut. 

dr. prakash kashwan, associate professor of political science and one of the contributors to the uconn course, notes, “this generation is grappling with 500 years of mistakes and missteps.  while it is essential to acknowledge the importance of change, we must balance these thoughts with the knowledge [that] one person cannot fix climate change.”  

understanding what sustainable activism looks like in practice is vital.  for sena, this meant learning how to delegate to a team as well as understanding that she doesn’t have to be doing everything (engage with policymakers, work with community stakeholders, organize youth,  manage events, and more) to effect meaningful change. “fear can only drive you so far before you burn out,” sena said, noting that learning how to be an activist continuing to push for climate policy while prioritizing her mental well-being is an ongoing process.

when i personally feel overwhelmed by the changes needed to prevent accelerated climate change, i step away from whatever i’m doing to head outside adventuring with my dog or spend time with my loved ones. i’m also conscious when it’s time for me to unplug from instagram and turn off twitter, especially when climate change-related messaging is intermingled with other content on my feed. 

experts suggest that cultivating mindfulness skills, fostering optimistic approaches, and practicing active coping help immensely to lessen anxiety among climate activists. prioritize healthy habits, including cooking meals and exercising. set aside time to engage with family, friends, and other social groups, being intentional about having non-climate related discussions. 

understanding when it’s time to seek professional help is equally significant, particularly when thoughts of ecoanxiety or climate grief impact day-to-day functions. if this is the case, having a conversation with a healthcare provider will help locate both clinical and non-clinical resources available in a community to treat related impacts. 

ecoanxiety support groups have begun to spring up, including u.s.-based good grief network and climate psychology alliance in the u.k. health care professional organizations, led by the american psychological association and american public health association, have launched toolkits and webinars to arm providers with tools needed to assist patients experiencing change-related mental health problems.

as wildfires rage, hurricanes form, and carbon metrics are not met, it’s critical for young people to know––either acting as an individual or collective––they are not solely responsible for bearing the burden of climate change-related inaction by others. to foster effective, long-term climate advocacy, building skills to protect the mental and physical well-being of young people working in the space must be the first priority.