A thick crude oil slick has washed ashore along a 20-kilometre stretch of Gwadar's western coast (a port city on Pakistan's Balochistan coastline along the Arabian Sea), raising urgent alarms about damage to marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of local fishermen. Authorities believe strong westerly winds and sea currents likely carried the oil from a spill linked to tanker incidents near the Strait of Hormuz, though the exact source remains unconfirmed. Cleanup teams from several local agencies have been mobilised, while environmentalists and civil society groups are pressing for a high-level investigation and a long-term strategy to protect the fragile coastal ecosystem.