Oil spill triggers rescue of endangered penguins

Agence France-Presse March 28, 2011 1:10



A race to rescue up to 20,000 endangered penguins from an oil spill in an isolated south Atlantic island group is underway after a cargo ship ran aground and began leaking its heavy fuel oil.

Oil-slicked Rockhopper penguins were being collected and taken off three Tristan da Cunha islands to the main island to be stored in a shed for treatment, cleaning and eventual release.

But specialist cleaning fluid was in short supply.

"A crucial next step is to confirm a second vessel to depart from Cape Town . with all the necessary equipment and supplies to clean up the birds, keep them healthy and, hopefully, return them to the ocean," said Burns.

"It will be a race against time." The MS Oliva ran aground on Nightingale island on March 16. Its crew was rescued before the ship broke up. "Unfortunately, the birds cannot be fed in captivity until a ship can travel from South Africa with a load of frozen fish, along with an experienced cleaning team and other essential supplies," said John Cooper of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in Australia.

The archipelago, which is British controlled, is the home to most of the world's Rockhopper penguins which are classed endangered, with Burns saying he hoped an earlier estimate of 20,000 affected penguins would prove to be too high.

Scientists also worry that rats on the ship may have reached the two ratfree islands where the penguins live.

Rats can destroy populations of birds that lay their eggs on the ground in burrows by eating the eggs.

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/spill+triggers+rescue+endangered+penguins/4513757/story.html