A large oil spill off the Bay of Plenty coast is endangering wildlife when the breeding season is in full swing, says the Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.
The 47,000 ton cargo ship Rena was travelling from Napier to Tauranga when it ran aground on Astrolabe Reef at about 2: 20 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Attempts to contain a 5 kilometre long oil slick with the despersant Corexit appear to have had little effect.
Yesterday, four dead oiled birds were discovered near the cargo ship prompting environmental and conservation groups to organise volunteers to deal with the spill.
A bird cleaning operation and rehabilitation centre is being set up in Tauranga and Motiti Island will provide a forward base, says Maritime NZ in a media release.
Forest & Bird Seabird Advocate Karen Baird said seabirds and marine life were particularly vulnerable and she is concerned over the apparent lack of momentum in dealing with the oil spill.
“As far as I am aware there still isn’t containment to try and contain the oil around the ship, instead of letting it drift out in a big slick.
“Landing in the oil slick is a death sentence for these birds. Their feathers will become clogged with oil and they can sink or drown, unable to fly,” said Ms Baird.
She is worried there will be further fatalities if chicks were fed contaminated food.
“Swallowing even small amounts of oil can be fatal to them or their chicks when they try to feed them.”
While Seabirds breed on the mainland or the islands around the Bay of Plenty, they live their entire life at sea and are dependent on the marine environment for food, Ms Baird said.
Grey face petrel are currently feeding their chicks, diving petrel chicks are hatching and fluttering shearwaters are sitting on their eggs, she added.
“Penguins are also in full swing in terms of breeding ... I think they are probably sitting on eggs at the moment.”
Forest & Bird is waiting for a reply from the Maritime NZ Incident Response Team who are coordinating the rescue operation.
“Assisting in this situation where birds have been oiled is very much an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff,” Ms Baird said.
“Hopefully (our membership) will be mobilised ... to go out on the water and try and keep big flocks of birds away from the oil slick.”
The 47,000 ton cargo ship Rena was travelling from Napier to Tauranga when it ran aground on Astrolabe Reef at about 2: 20 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Attempts to contain a 5 kilometre long oil slick with the despersant Corexit appear to have had little effect.
Yesterday, four dead oiled birds were discovered near the cargo ship prompting environmental and conservation groups to organise volunteers to deal with the spill.
A bird cleaning operation and rehabilitation centre is being set up in Tauranga and Motiti Island will provide a forward base, says Maritime NZ in a media release.
Forest & Bird Seabird Advocate Karen Baird said seabirds and marine life were particularly vulnerable and she is concerned over the apparent lack of momentum in dealing with the oil spill.
“As far as I am aware there still isn’t containment to try and contain the oil around the ship, instead of letting it drift out in a big slick.
“Landing in the oil slick is a death sentence for these birds. Their feathers will become clogged with oil and they can sink or drown, unable to fly,” said Ms Baird.
She is worried there will be further fatalities if chicks were fed contaminated food.
“Swallowing even small amounts of oil can be fatal to them or their chicks when they try to feed them.”
While Seabirds breed on the mainland or the islands around the Bay of Plenty, they live their entire life at sea and are dependent on the marine environment for food, Ms Baird said.
Grey face petrel are currently feeding their chicks, diving petrel chicks are hatching and fluttering shearwaters are sitting on their eggs, she added.
“Penguins are also in full swing in terms of breeding ... I think they are probably sitting on eggs at the moment.”
Forest & Bird is waiting for a reply from the Maritime NZ Incident Response Team who are coordinating the rescue operation.
“Assisting in this situation where birds have been oiled is very much an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff,” Ms Baird said.
“Hopefully (our membership) will be mobilised ... to go out on the water and try and keep big flocks of birds away from the oil slick.”
Maritime New Zealand has said that their first consideration was to prevent further damage by removing the fuel from the cargo ship.
National On Scene Commander Rob Service said the response team was planning for all eventualities, including a large-scale discharge of oil from the ship.
He said that almost all the 1700 cubic metres of heavy fuel oil was still contained within the vessel’s hull.
The pollution response service manager Andrew Berry told Radio New Zealand the vessel was threatening to split in two with half on the reef and half balancing over deep water.
“It has the potential to be very, very serious indeed simply because of the age of the ship, the damage that she’s sustained and the 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board”, he said.
New Zealand is known as the sea-bird capital of the world. A total of 85 species breed in New Zealand and nearly half of these breed nowhere else, says Forest & Bird.
National On Scene Commander Rob Service said the response team was planning for all eventualities, including a large-scale discharge of oil from the ship.
He said that almost all the 1700 cubic metres of heavy fuel oil was still contained within the vessel’s hull.
The pollution response service manager Andrew Berry told Radio New Zealand the vessel was threatening to split in two with half on the reef and half balancing over deep water.
“It has the potential to be very, very serious indeed simply because of the age of the ship, the damage that she’s sustained and the 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board”, he said.
New Zealand is known as the sea-bird capital of the world. A total of 85 species breed in New Zealand and nearly half of these breed nowhere else, says Forest & Bird.
