Considered the worst environmental disaster in New Zealand history, efforts are still continuing to lessen the effects of the oil spilling out of Rena, the container ship that ran ashore October 6th on the east coast of the country’s North Island.
It has potential to be an ecological catastrophe, affecting much of the coastal and aquatic wildlife. New Zealand is known for varying species of seabird living and raising their young along its coasts. Since it’s springtime in the southern hemisphere, water fowl such as cormorants, petrels, and penguins are in the midst of mating season, which is especially true for the Little Blue Penguins (‘fairy penguins’). The penguins are vulnerable to the oil, as they often swim through the now-contaminated water, and many of their number have already been found with their feathers drenched in oil. Over 120 oiled penguins and several cormorants have been taken to a wildlife centre in Tauranga Harbour, 20 km from the crash site, for recovery and clean-up. One problem is the penguins’ habit of preening their own feathers. Birds who attempt to preen their feathers are in danger of ingesting the oil and falling ill. To prevent this, local knitting shops and knitters worldwide have been called to make tiny, penguin-sized wool sweaters to both keep the penguins warm during their recovery, and to keep them from preening their feathers. The idea has been enormously successful thus far, with the penguins looking cute and healthy in their little sweaters. Though the original demand for the sweaters was urgent, the number of sweaters received has been overwhelming, with enough for the hundreds of more birds who are expected to be treated in the coming weeks. The birds will be released when conditions improve.
Despite the success in saving most of the wildlife, the oil spill has still dealt quite a blow to their population and overall health. For example, in order to save the Little Blue Penguins themselves, volunteers and clean-up crew are essentially removing them from their nesting area, allowing their clutch of eggs to die. It is an unfortunate but unavoidable fact. Untreated, the penguins would likely die and feed oil-contaminated foods to their chicks. Also notable is the contamination of feeding grounds for the New Zealand dotterels, who are nearing extinction with only about 1300 birds left. In the ocean itself, marine animals including seals, dolphins, and various whales live and migrate through the area in which the oil is rapidly spreading, and are also in danger of becoming oiled, especially if the oil enters their blowholes and into their lungs.
For this reason, workers have been working since day one to build dams to siphon off the area and to contain the amount of oil already leaked into the water. Other efforts have been made to remove the remaining 450,000+ gallons of fuel oil and diesel still on the ship before the ship breaks apart and unleashes its remaining toxins into the ecosystem.
Leave a Reply