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Oiled
penguins on Robben
Island try to
preen oil off
feathers during
Treasure
oil spill
off Cape Town,
South Africa in
2000.
(Photo:
John Hrusa/IFAW) |
On
June 23, 2000 the damaged
bulk ore carrier MV
Treasure sank off the
coast of South Africa
between Dassen and Robben
Islands, which support
the largest and third
largest colonies of
African Penguins (Spheniscus
demersus), worldwide.
The ship spilled over
1,300 tons of bunker
oil, which immediately
oiled thousands of penguins.
The Treasure
oil spill caused thousands
of African penguins
on Dassen and Robben
Island, off the
coast of South Africa,
to become oiled and
threatened still tens
of thousands more. These
two islands are the
first and third largest
breeding colonies of
African Penguins in
world, the worldwide
population is currently
less than 180,000.
Response
team photo
Within hours
of the disaster at sea,
a sense of the overwhelming
dread began to sink
in, as it became obvious
thousands of penguins
were being oiled. The
largest oiled animal
rehabilitation effort
in history had taken
place after the 1994
Apollo Sea oil spill
when almost 10,000 African
penguins were oiled
near Cape Town. It was
soon apparent that the
Treasure spill had the
potential of oiling
more than twice the
number of birds oiled
from the Apollo Sea.
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The
numbers of oiled
penguins at
the Treasure
oil spill was
unprecedented
in rehabilitation
history. ©
Jon Hrusa/IFAW
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Never before
has there been such
a massive effort to
capture and rehabilitate
oiled seabirds. As reports
of the devastation from
the Treasure spill became
known, it was apparent
that this would be a
wildlife response like
none other ever attempted.
The single largest International
Oiled Wildlife Response
Team in the world was
assembled by the International
Fund for Animal Welfare
to care for over 20,000
oiled African penguins.
The entire rehabilitation
program in Cape Town,
South Africa lasted
more than ten weeks.
The Potential
Impact on African Penguins
Immediately
after the MV Treasure
sank there were reports
of oiled penguins on
Robben Island, home
to approximately 18,000
African penguins. The
spill occurred in the
middle of breeding season
so the majority of the
island residents were
actually on nests with
either eggs or chicks.
The Cape Nature Conservation
(CNC), the cape region
ís wildlife trustee
agency, immediately
began a massive collection
program that brought
thousands of oiled penguins
to The Southern African
Foundation for the Conservation
of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).
It was obvious that
SANCCOB ís limited
space would quickly
become overrun with
birds and a much larger
facility would be needed.
Within hours of the
oil spill, SANCCOB requested
the aid of the International
Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW) and together
they initiated a massive
rehabilitation program.
The IFAW International
Oiled Wildlife Response
Team is directed by
the International Bird
Rescue Research Center
(IBRRC), they were immediately
mobilized to South Africa.
IFAW has a retainer
agreement in place with
International Bird Rescue
Research Center to direct
oiled wildlife rehabilitation
programs when a response
is required.
Parliament's
poached penguin eggs
and the Great Guano
War
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The
spill occurred
in the middle
of breeding
season when
penguins were
on nests with
eggs or chicks.
Photo: ©
Jon Hrusa/IFAW
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Increasing
Our Capabilities
as The Spill Grows
As each
new report came in relating
the numbers of oiled
birds, plans were adjusted
to accommodate what
would obviously become
the largest rehabilitation
effort ever attempted.
Jay Holcomb, Executive
Director of IBRRC directed
the large facility at
Salt River and Karen
Trendler, Executive
Director of Wildcare
in South Africa directed
the effort at the permanent
SANCCOB facility at
Table View.
Within the
first five days after
the spill, there were
over 10,000 penguins
at the Salt River facility
and several thousand
more at the permanent
facility of SANCCOB
and it was obvious that
a larger supervisory
team was needed. At
this point, IFAW issued
a worldwide call to
zoos and aquarium for
supervisory staff, experienced
in captive penguin care,
to come to Cape Town
to augment the management
team. Zoo and aquarium
staff from 59 different
centers (14 different
countries) came to join
the International Oiled
Wildlife Team. These
team members were effective
because of their experience,
not only with the captive
care of penguins, but
also because of their
personnel management
experience which added
to their ability to
supervise volunteers
effectively.
We requested
that new team members
make a minimum commitment
of two to three weeks
and the majority of
these people obtained
their own funding. The
International Oiled
Wildlife Team was made
up of about 50 people
during most of the ten
weeks of the rehabilitation
process. The core management
team of IBRRC and IFAW
staff stayed throughout
the entire process.
Finding
an appropriate site
to house the rehab efforts
The logistical
needs grew proportionally
to the number of birds
that came in oiled.
The first requirement
was to find a suitable
facility for the bulk
of the birds. A very
large, indoor space
was needed that had
good ventilation to
prevent the spread of
disease. This was secured
within the first few
days after the spill.
Logistical staff from
IFAW and SANCCOB worked
together to secure a
railway warehouse in
the Salt River area
of Cape Town. The entire
indoor facility is approximately
22,000 square meters,
half of which was used
for the penguin rehabilitation
program.
The facility
also had to have a good
water supply and one
that could be added
to by the use of fire
hydrants in the area,
as well as room for
massive hot water heaters.
Other space requirements
were for offices, phone,
fax and computer lines,
storage for food and
supplies, media, animal
food preparation, bird
washing, rinsing and
drying, medical care,
staff and volunteer
support (food, restrooms,
etc.) also needed to
be taken into account.
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