Tools to save penguins: dishwashing detergent, little woollen jumpers and 11 tonnes of fish

13 September, 2011

If you were put in a situation where you had to work out how to defrost 11 tonnes of frozen fish in freezing cold weather, what would you do?

This is just one of the scenarios representatives from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), Phillip Island Nature Parks, the Department of Transport and the Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre were left to ponder when they took part in a two day training course last week at Phillip Island in how to care for wildlife affected by an oil spill.

Caitlin Barry from DSE’s Wildlife Conservation and Management unit said marine wildlife is one of the first casualties in an oil spill.

“Seabirds that are smothered with oil are vulnerable to internal damage because preening their feathers means they ingest the oil. This can cause chemical poisoning,” Ms Barry said.

“Oil can also interfere with the buoyancy and temperature regulation of seabirds, which leaves them extremely cold and tired.”

“DSE has established wildlife response procedures for marine pollution emergencies for the rescue, humane treatment and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife”.

“Whether the oil spill has only affected a handful of wildlife, or requires a much larger response, there are a number of things we need to have in place to respond effectively including a rehabilitation centre, transport, food, bird washing materials and water.”

In the case of an oil spill, one of the key stages in rehabilitating wildlife, is cleaning the oil off them, which is one of the things the 25 participants practised at the training sessions using “dummies”.

Phillip Island Nature Parks spokesperson Roz Jessop said it takes about 50 litres of water to wash one penguin.

“The birds are given a pre-treatment, and handwashed using dishwashing detergent and a soft cloth. They are then rinsed and dried.

“If they are not rinsed properly, the penguins can become waterlogged and drown because penguins aren’t waterproof when they have oil on them.”

“Another important tool in rescuing penguins from an oil spill are small “penguin jumpers”.  Surprisingly these cute little jumpers aren’t to keep the penguins warm; they are used to stop the penguins from preening themselves and ingesting the oil on their feathers while they are waiting their turn to be washed.

“They used to use little ponchos but the penguins worked out how to pull these off – there are now people all over the world dedicated to knitting penguin jumpers to use in oil spills.

“Oiled wildlife is generally treated here at the Phillip Island Nature Parks, where we have purpose built facilities that can house up to 500 penguins and other marine wildlife in the case of an oil spill. This can be increased to 1500 during a larger incident by setting up makeshift facilities in the grounds of the nature park.”

The Department of Transport is the lead response agency during a marine pollution emergency, and DSE is responsible for leading rescue and rehabilitation efforts for any affected wildlife.

 

DSE's Leona Waldgrave-Knight (front) and Mandy Watson (back) learn about how to wash penguins if there was an oil spill