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Oiled Peruvian
brown pelican |
Antofagasta, Chile
On
November 1, 2005, the Eider, a Hong
Kong-flagged cargo ship ran aground
on the northern coast of Chile,
near the city of Antofagasta.
Over 7 km of Chilean coastline was
impacted with heavy bunker fuel.
Map
of Northern Chile
At the request of Dr.
Carlos Guerra, Response Wildlife
Director at the University of Antofagasta,
the IFAW Emergency Relief (ER) Team
– Oiled Wildlife Division
assisted with the rescue and rehabilitation
efforts.
The ER team was comprised
of Spanish speaking responders including:
IFAW Penguin Network Coordinator,
Valeria Ruoppolo, as well as IBRRC
intern, Jose Maria Barredo from
Mexico, Rudolfo Pinho da Silva from
Centro de Recuperação
de Animais Marinhos (CRAM) in Brazil
and Sergio Rodriguez Heredia from
Foundation Mundo Marino (FMM) in
Argentina.
BY November 15, 2005
animals in care at the University
of Antofagasta Wildlife Center included
20 Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus
thagus), one Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus
humboldti) and two Franklin's gulls
(Larus pipixcan). Since the spill,
one gull died in care. One penguin
was dead on arrival.
Every day pelicans gathered
at the local fish market as fishermen
come in to clean their catch. Between
8 AM and 10 AM, while the pelicans
are in close proximity, the response
team looked for oiled pelicans to
rescue. This was really the only
effective way to find birds impacted
by the oil spill.
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Peruvian Pelican
in the rinse cycle. |
Ten to 15 South American
sea lions (Otaria byronia), also
hung out in the water near the market,
but they appeared to be fine. No
casualties of marine mammals related
to the oil spill were reported.
IFAW ER Team members
worked with University staff and
volunteers to provide guidance and
training on oiled wildlife response
management, care of oiled animals
and development of the washing and
reconditioning systems.
Prior to the arrival
of the IFAW ER Team, the University
staff was able to preemptively capture
and relocate 13 rare green turtles.
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Antofagasta Wildlife
Center in Chile (IBRRC/IFAW
photos) |
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Teaming
up:
IBRRC-IFAW Emergency Relief efforts
IBRRC
co-manages the IFAW Emergency Relief
Team (ER)- Oiled Wildlife Division
which responds to oiled wildlife
around the world and provides training
and other services related to oiled
wildlife. A cornerstone of this
program is increasing local capacity,
wherever we go by training local
staff and volunteers prior to and
during responses.
IBRRC has long been
committed to advancing the field
of oiled wildlife response and as
part of that commitment operates
an international
internship program that trains
individuals from other countries
in all aspects of oiled wildlife
response. These interns are often
become part of the international
response team after their training.
Also see:
IBRRC-IFAW
partnership |
