In Mauritius, thousands of volunteers are mobilizing in the wake of the devastating oil spill.
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00:00Now we can see how much the puddles in Tiziano did their job
00:04because of the amount of tarmac
00:06because it absorbed inside the puddles
00:10so it's eating pretty well.
00:30Here we are in Beauplan, in the north of the island
00:33in an old coal factory
00:35where hundreds of volunteers meet every day
00:37to help create the puddles
00:39that will hold the oil in the lagoon.
00:41Can you give me a hand to unload the puddles?
00:43Ok, ok.
00:45Come on, let's go!
00:52The puddles you see are currently being worked on
00:55to create floating structures,
00:58which are made of straw and reed
01:00and are inserted in fabric with plastic bottles
01:02to ensure a better floating.
01:04The purpose of these structures is
01:06to limit the impact and propagation
01:08of these puddles in the Mauritian lagoon.
01:24We see that there are people who come to help
01:27and everyone is doing their part
01:29so that we can save the oil lab
01:31which is here in the lagoon
01:33for the waterfowl.
01:42I'm Vany, I'm in charge of the plastic bottles.
01:45We sort all the bottles
01:47to have a sufficient number of liters
01:49to float all the paddles
01:51that will end up in the Bay of Maibourg.
01:53I've been here since Sunday
01:56and we feel a little forced to act
01:58as our government is not helping
02:00and above all to protect our lagoon,
02:02our ecosystem.
02:04It's the most important thing.
02:20These puddles are assembled, sewn
02:22and then stacked
02:24in this centralization point
02:26and then put in the biggest socks
02:28that you can see up there.
02:30These structures are then moved
02:32to the quality control level
02:34in the bottom to ensure
02:36the solidity of the seams
02:38but also to ensure the level of floating.
02:44We really work in close collaboration
02:46with expert committees,
02:48scientists and the Mauritian state
02:50to produce the most reliable
02:53and as efficient as possible.
03:02In the whole island,
03:04we see truckloads of bottles
03:06heading south.
03:08These are the old models
03:10made with plastic gratings.
03:12Here we are at the tip of Jérôme
03:14just in front of the ÃŽle aux Egrettes
03:16and all the bottles are ready to go.
03:18There's even a boat coming to pick them up.
03:23This is a school
03:25of kitesurfers in Pointe-Neuf-Saint-Denis.
03:27I'm here as a volunteer
03:29to assist the coast guards
03:31and we have friends
03:33from the diving center with us
03:35and they came to help us
03:37place all the dams.
03:45You can see the real booms
03:47behind us
03:49and we can also see other
03:52fishing boats coming
03:54just in case
03:56there's a small loss
03:58on the high waves.
04:04We're on an area
04:06where a few days ago
04:08we had big oil spills
04:10around here
04:12and the dam wasn't perfect yet.
04:14Now we can see
04:16that we've had time
04:18to rectify everything
04:21and we're catching
04:23small oil spills.
04:25Fortunately, there's not much
04:27left in the lagoon
04:29and we can see the guys
04:31coming to pick up
04:33the little bits left on the left.
04:35It's a precision work.
04:51There's still
04:53about 100 tons
04:55of oil left
04:57on the boat
04:59so we're ready
05:01to pick up
05:03this oil
05:05if it comes
05:07to drain.
05:09But thank God
05:11it's been 2 days
05:13and we don't have
05:15much oil left.
05:21It's really useful
05:23to be here
05:25because as Mauritians
05:27the lagoon is practically
05:29under our feet
05:31and the lagoon is in danger
05:33at the moment.
05:35We're all gathered here
05:37all Mauritians
05:39even foreigners
05:41to help the lagoon.