Nine days ago, a Liberian-flagged container ship called the Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles offshore from Tauranga Harbor on New Zealand's North Island. In addition to the 2,100 containers aboard, the Rena was carrying 1,700 tons of fuel oil and another 200 tons of diesel fuel. A cracked hull and rough seas have dislodged more than 80 containers and spilled some 300 tons of oil already, fouling Tauranga beaches and reportedly killing some 1,000 birds so far. Salvage teams are racing to offload as much remaining oil as possible while cleanup crews are hard at work, coping with New Zealand's worst environmental disaster in decades.
Oil Spill Disaster on New Zealand Shoreline
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Read moreA man looks at waves coming in at Papamoa beach dirty with fuel oil from the Liberian-flagged container ship Rena stuck aground on a reef off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 13, 2011. #
AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko -
Read moreThe stricken Rena is pounded by waves on October 13, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. The ship's Filipino captain has been charged and is facing an NZ$10,000 fine or 12 months jail. #
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Read moreA woman walks by a sign placed at Mount Maunganui beach damaged with fuel oil from the container ship Rena stuck aground on a reef off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 14, 2011. #
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Read morePeople try to empty a container that spilled debris after it washed up on Mount Maunganui beach this morning from the Liberian-flagged container ship Rena, stuck off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand,on October 13, 2011. #
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Read moreLocal residents come to look at a washed up container with its cargo of packets of partly-cooked hamburgers littering the beach on October 13, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. #
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Read moreA bird eats a burger after a container spilled debris of burger patties when it washed up on Mount Maunganui beach this morning from the container ship Rena stuck aground on a reef off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 13, 2011. #
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Read moreA seal in a cage during a cleaning session to remove fuel oil from its body at the wildlife facility in Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 14, 2011. The seal was rescued from the sea polluted by leaked oil from the container ship Rena that has already spilled hundreds of tons of oil since it ran aground October 5 on Astrolabe Reef. #
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Read moreA penguin found on the beach coated in oil is washed at the Oiled Wildlife Response unit set up in a makeshift camp on October 8, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. The belly of the penguin is normally colored white. #
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Read moreSoldiers continue the clean up operations after more oil from the stricken vessel Rena washed up along the Bay of Plenty coastline, on October 13, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. #
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Read moreTracks left in the sand from machinery used to clean Papamoa Beach, damaged with fuel oil from the Rena, off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 14, 2011. #
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Read moreA volunteer picks up a dead bird affected by fuel oil from the container ship Rena stuck aground on a reef off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 13, 2011. #
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Read moreA large crack in the external hull of the Rena is visible in this fly-over shot of the stranded cargo vessel on Astrolabe Reef, on October 12, 2011 near Tauranga, New Zealand. #
Maritime New Zealand via Getty Images -
Read moreA tugboat and a helicopter work around the grounded cargo ship Rena near Tauranga, New Zealand, on October 13, 2011. About 88 containers have fallen off the deck of the 775-foot (236-meter) vessel as it has listed increasingly in stormy ocean conditions. #
AP Photo/New Zealand Defence Force via Maritime New Zealand, Nicole Munro -
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Read moreOne of the rescued oil-coated penguins recuperates in a water tank, seen during a media call at the oiled wildlife center in Tauranga on October 11, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand. #
Bradley Ambrose/Getty Images
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