Before Sinking	After Recovery

The barge "IRVING WHALE", loaded with 4200 long tons of Bunker C heavy fuel oil and approximately 6800 litres of cargo heating fluid, sank on September 7, 1970, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, 60 km northeast of North Point, PEI, in 67 meters of water. Oil leaked from the barge for two days following the sinking, creating a slick which covered an estimated area of 400 square kilometers. Approximately 200 long tons of oil later washed ashore on the Iles-de-la-Madeleine, with smaller amounts appearing on the north shore of PEI and western Cape Breton Island. Trajectory modelling indicates that the bulk of the surface oil released from the barge was likely carried by wind and ocean currents, between the Iles-de-la-Madeleine and Cape Breton, through the Cabot Strait and into the Atlantic Ocean.