China Just Reportedly Dumped Human Feces in the West Philippine Sea
Fish in the reefs in the West Philippine Sea are drowning in human excrement allegedly dumped by Chinese ships. The amount of shit unloaded by the vessels was so massive, it was visible from space.
U.S. think tank Simularity has brought the world’s attention to the matter. The company specializes in analyzing satellite imagery. It is the same company that raised the alarm on over 200 Chinese vessels loitering around the West Philippine Sea in late June.
“When the ships don’t move, the poop piles up,” said Liz Derr, the CEO of Simularity, in an online forum hosted by Stratbase ADR Institute on July 11.
“The sewage from the anchored ships in the Spratlys is damaging the reefs and we can see this from space,” said Derr.
In the following handout photos, Simularity compares images of the reefs and the drastic algal growth in the reefs after the Chinese ships dumped sewage into them.
Ships (Left) and Shits
Delifin Lorenzana, defense secretary of the Philippines, issued a statement on July 13 regarding the allegations against Chinese ships. “While we have yet to confirm this waste has reached our waters, such irresponsible acts, if true, would undoubtedly cause grave damage to the marine ecology in the region.”
According to Derr, there could be immeasurable damage to wildlife because of the dump.
“Coral reef fishes supply a major source of protein for about 85 percent of coastal inhabitants,” she said. “The larvae for the fish that inhabit the South China Sea come largely from its coral reefs. The larvae from the Spratly reefs get distributed around the South China Sea by the winter and summer monsoons.”
But according to a SCMP report by Raissa Robles, the Department of Defense is still verifying criticisms that Derr allegedly used a 2014 photo of ships in the Great Barrier Reef during her presentation.
“The photo had appeared in Derr’s presentation as an illustration of a ship disgorging bilge water above a disclaimer that it was an unknown ship,” wrote Robles.
