A 2,000-gallon fuel tank that fell into waters off the Galapagos Islands has created a slick that threatens to contaminate rare wildlife, scientists say.

Ecuador has declared a state of emergency for the Galapagos islands.

The spillage of more than 150,000 gallons of diesel oil from an Ecuadorean tanker near the Galapagos Islands is a "catastrophe", the environmentalist David Bellamy has warned.

More than 150,000 gallons of diesel oil has escaped from an Ecuadorean tanker washed up on one of the Galapagos Islands.

Ecuador has asked the US for help in preventing an environmental disaster posed by a diesel fuel spill in the ecologically fragile Galapagos Islands.