Oil-coated creatures rescued
Print Edition
MORE than two dozen marine mammals and nearly 40 birds, mostly pelicans, have been collected dead and alive from California’s oil-fouled coastline near Santa Barbara in the week since a petroleum pipeline ruptured there, wildlife officials said this week.
Of 38 oil-coated birds documented so far, 13 turned up dead and 25 were picked up alive, though two of the rescued birds have since died, said Dr Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian from the University of California, Davis who heads the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.
The surviving birds, primarily brown pelicans, were all being taken to a wildlife care facility in Los Angeles to be cleaned up, nursed back to health, and hopefully released again to the wild.
Among marine mammals counted as apparent oil spill victims, 12 California sea lions and six northern elephant seals were recovered alive, but two of the captured sea lions later died. Five more sea lions were found dead, along with carcasses of three common dolphins, Ziccardi said.
Post-mortem exams must be conducted on all the dead animals to confirm whether they actually perished from petroleum exposure, officials said. Results from the first dolphin exam were inconclusive as no visible signs of oil contamination were found externally or internally, Ziccardi said.
The full extent of damage to wildlife remains unknown since last Tuesday’s pipeline rupture dumped as much as 2,400 barrels (382,327 liters) of crude oil onto the shoreline and into the ocean west of Santa Barbara.
The spill left an oil slick stretching for more than 14.5 kilometers along the coast and forced the indefinite closure of two popular beaches. The area also has been placed off-limits to fishing and shellfish harvesting.
The stricken region lies at the edge of a national marine sanctuary and underwater preserve that is home to whales, dolphins, sea lions and other marine mammals, along with some 60 species of sea birds and over 500 species of fish. Rescued marine mammals were being sent to SeaWorld San Diego for cleansing and rehabilitation by veterinary staff there.
“Our team is working very, very hard, doing everything they can to give these animals a second chance at life,” said David Koontz, a spokesman for the marine theme park.
Sea lions were already under stress well before the spill, with record numbers — more than 3,100 so far this year, most of them pups — washing up starving and stranded on Southern California beaches.
Biologists have linked this to warming ocean temperatures that have disrupted food supplies.
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