A cargo ship has run aground on a reef off the coast of New Zealand. On October 5, the Liberian-flagged cargo ship Rena stranded itself on top of a reef near the north end of New Zealand, causing tons of oil to be spilled from the ship and into the reef and ocean below.

The ship was on its way to the port of Tauranga on Wednesday when the ship’s caption evidently failed to notice the clearly marked reefs on the navigation map. The Rena went over the Astrolabe Reef and become stranded on top of it. Since catching itself on the reef, the ship had listed 18 degrees, and 350 tons of oil has spilled forth from it. The 25 crew on board were not injured and are assisting the New Zealand government in their attempts to stop the flow of oil.

The oil has affected local wildlife, and hundreds of government officials and citizens have rushed to the shoreline in an attempt to assist in the cleanup of the clumped oil. As of October 19, an estimated 1300 seabirds have been killed by the disaster, as well as numerous other species. 85 to 100 tons of oil has been removed from the ship so far by pumps, but 1400 tons of fuel remains on board.

The New Zealand government has issued a state of emergency, which allows them to salvage the ship in any way possible. While attempts to prevent the ship from tipping completely over by the removal of oil have been slowly progressing, bad weather has made it next to impossible to continue for the time being. As of this writing, operations are stopped temporarily. The government and the citizens of New Zealand are currently waiting for the next opportunity to continue their work.

While this disaster certainly won’t go down in history as one of the worst oil spills on our planet, New Zealand prides itself as one of the cleanest, most pure countries on all of Earth. With the advent of the spill, New Zealand will be feeling the negative effects of the slick for a while. It’s just one more reminder about how one little mistake can cause such destruction.