A few years ago, Sipadan -- a small island in eastern Malaysia -- made a bold move. Due to mounting concerns over tourists destroying the marine and topside environment, the Malysian government decided to remove all the dive operations from the island and severely limit the number of divers that would be allowed into the area. Officials believed the best way to save Sipadan was to virtually seal it off from the outside. And for the most part, the plan seemed to be working. Marine life was thriving, and the island was turning into the unspoiled paradise divers dream of when they close their eyes. (If you don't believe me, check out the trip reports.)

However, last night, something terrible happened.

According to Andrea and Antonella Ferrari -- who are visiting the island currently -- an enormous steel barge anchored in the area, which had been "carrying thousands of tons of gravel, sand, steel tubes, iron mesh, prime movers, a large bulldozer and a gigantic crane" was pushed by the wind, scraped away hundreds of feet of formerly-vibrant reef between the old pier and Barracuda Point, and finally beached on the island. According to Ferrari, "The damage is incalculable - one of Sipadan's most precious and beloved spots, well-known the world over, is no more, transformed by a single inexplicable act of human carelessness into a grisly mass of broken and pulverized corals, shredded turtles and mounds of gray gravel." Ugh.

Alex Mustard was also on the island when the accident occurred. According to him, "The area of damage was at least the size of a couple of tennis courts." There's no word yet on why the barge was anchored so close to such an important, "protected" area. Certainly, however, the reef will take thousands of years to recover -- if it ever does.

[Via Newsvine]