The implications of the loss of 800 tons of fuel oil from the wrecked freighter MV Oliva off Nightingale Island are becoming clear.
We’ve just had this update from RSPB’s Katrine Herian, who’s based on Tristan de Cunha.
Penguin update: 473 penguins here on Tristan in the rehab shed. A team has begun stabilising them with fluid, vitamins and charcoal to absorb ingested oil.
There are 529 more oiled penguins coming on the Edinburgh at 7pm tonight from Alex and Nightingale. Just had report back from Inaccessible they have 450 oiled penguins corralled from two rookeries Blenden Hall and Warrens Cliff, awaiting transport to Tristan.The priority, today, was to get food into them as the birds are very hungry. We are trying locally caught five fingers, yellowtail and crayfish. Just heard they have been taking small half inch squares of five fingers. The Sandy Point Express barge went out today catching fish specifically to feed the penguin. This is being filleted now.Washing of birds hasn't started yet. Birds are being stabilised first.Also we don't have heaters or infrared bulbs available to keep birds warm after washing. High risk of pneumonia developing if they are cold.The Tristan swimming pool has been closed for swimming and is being drained of chlorinated water to be partially refilled and used for birds that are not so badly oiled.Trevor is bringing one Molly fledgling back with him that was found oiled after first flight. Apparently, they washed it that went well and it’s on board Edinburgh keeping warm near the funnel.
Am going back up to the rehab shed now and to prepare for the next influx of oiled birds.
Our thoughts are with Katrine and all those involved in dealing with the aftermath of this shipwreck.
While it’s still on BBC Iplayer – you can hear Katrine on BBC Radio 4’s Material World here. (She’s about 10 minutes in).
This video is grim watching but does vividly show the impact on the island’s Rockhopper penguins.
As time passes, the reasons for this maritime accident will be analysed and lessons learned. Tristan, however, was prepared as well as they could be. We’re very grateful for the funding provided by the European Commission South Atlantic Invasive Species Project which enabled the preparation of a contingency plan (to tackle the real risks that rats will have left the sinking ship), provided training and purchased equipment so that Tristan were able to respond rapidly when the disaster occurred.
In the longer term this tragedy must send a clear signal that The UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are astonishingly rich in wildlife, but these Territories are often overlooked. Tristan da Cunha is no exception. It holds an enormous amount of highly threatened British wildlife, including 13 bird species in danger of extinction. The Tristan Conservation Department, which has responded superbly to this terrible disaster, is only four people, so simply cannot carry out the vast amount of conservation work which is required. Defra has responsibility for supporting UKOTs conservation (indeed, the vast majority of the threatened species for which the Department is responsible are found in the UKOTs), but at present has no full-time staff working on UKOT issues. They need to establish, urgently, a UKOTs Biodiversity Unit to coordinate support and to allocate sufficient resources to Tristan and the other UKOTs which are working to save British species from extinction.
Volunteers can not be flown to Tristan da Cunha and further supplies will take 4 to 6 days to reach the island. It’s hoped that the ship’s insurers will cover the extraordinary environmental emergency costs and the immediate impact on Tristan da Cunha’s economy.
The Tristan da Cunha Association is UK based and exists to support the islands – you can find out more here.
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