Thursday, May 19, 2011

Penguin salvage is a ‘disaster’




CA_pengy0
SEAN BURNS
One of the oiled penguins from the Tristan disaster

JOHN YELD
Environment & Science Writer 

THE OPERATION to save penguins oiled during the wrecking of the bulk carrier, MS Oliva, at Tristan da Cunha in March is probably an “unmitigated disaster”, despite the best efforts of the islanders and a small team from local seabird conservation group Sanccob. 

Dr Ross Wanless, seabird division manager of BirdLife South Africa and Africa co-ordinator of BirdLife International’s global seabird programme, is concerned that the failure rate to save the estimated 20 000 oiled rock-hopper penguins could be as high as 98 percent, and the survival prospects of the remaining birds just “pretty average”. 

Wanless is still puzzled by regular press updates that are so upbeat, but which, he argues, don’t explain the facts. 

The latest news from the island states that, as at May 9, there were still about 400 penguins in the rehabilitation centre on Tristan. 

“There have been no further releases since April 3. All remaining birds have gained weight well, but their feathers appear in poor condition after having been oiled and then washed. Release of these birds cannot occur until they are in excellent condition, as sending them into a cold south Atlantic without their waterproofing intact would be disastrous. 

“Around 25 Tristanians are still working full time with the penguins, and the entire community remains dedicated to seeing the remaining birds head out to sea as soon as possible. Sadly, the overall rate of rehabilitation of the rescued penguins has been extremely low, with around an 88 percent mortality rate among those birds that were moved to Tristan. This is a much higher mortality than in other oiling incidents, and we hope that lessons can be learned that will improve this figure in any future incidents. 

“The extreme remoteness of the Tristan islands and the necessary delay (at least six days sail from Cape Town) in getting vital supplies and staff to the islands probably contributed to the low survival, as birds would have been consuming toxic oil from their feathers for more than a week before rescue was undertaken.” 

But writing on the national birders’ forum, sabirdnet, Wanless described this update as “another attempt at a positive spin on what has been to my mind an unmitigated disaster, despite the best efforts of the Tristan islanders and Sanccob”. 

“The release notes that the success rate is extremely low … but fails to provide authentic reasons for this. The short of it is that waiting less than 24 hours to mobilise two salvage vessels, but three weeks to get Sanccob to the island, demonstrates a criminally negligent response from the insurers.” 

There was again “complete silence about the true scale of the disaster”, Wanless said.
“There is, for example, no mention of the initial estimate, based on an incomplete survey of colonies, that there were 20 000 oiled penguins. If my sums are correct, so far there are only 400 birds alive and 50 released and presumed alive of the 20 000 (initial) minimum estimate. That’s actually a 98 percent failure rate, so far, with survival prospects for the remaining birds being pretty average, I would guess. 

“I don’t understand why the press releases we’ve been fed simply don’t address this issue? Why is the insurance company apparently getting away with this travesty?” he wrote. 


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