Subject: [Oversea] Clean-up continues after California oil spill [Print This Page] Author: HKBWS Surveyor Time: 23/11/2007 17:11 Subject: Clean-up continues after California oil spill
News from BirdLife International
22-11-2007
Clean-up continues after California oil spill
The recovery effort continues in the US, after a cargo tanker collided with California’s Bay Bridge and released approximately 58,000 gallons of hazardous bunker fuel into the waters of the bay.
Now in the second week since the disaster (on 7 November), conservationists from Audubon (BirdLife in the US), are among those monitoring the impact, in many cases transporting birds to local recovery centres.
The dramatic events have received intense media coverage in the US – with California’s Governor Schwarzenegger reportedly “sad and angry”.
“While the environmental impacts of the spill have reached across the entire ecosystem, the story of the disaster has largely been written through images of dead or suffering birds.” report Audubon California on the events.
Since the spill occurred Audubon staff and volunteers have worked to monitor the sanctuary’s waters and beaches for oil, more recently turning their attention to the oiled birds, cases of which have become increasingly evident.
As of Wednesday 22 November 2007, the latest figures from Audubon –collating the results of a number of different organisations assisting with recovery efforts- report that 1,052 birds are “in care” with 1,514 birds found dead in the field.
“These numbers are particularly frightening because Richardson Bay is only one small part of the larger bay ecosystem, and it has so far escaped the massive oil slicks that have hit other regions”, said Gary Langham, director of bird conservation for Audubon California, who estimates that by the time the numbers are tallied for the entire bay, thousands more will have died. Many of these birds, he notes, are already under threat from habitat loss and other dangers.
Particularly hard hit has been Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata, a diving sea duck vulnerable due to its habit of spending long periods on the oil-slicked surface before diving. Some 78 percent of Surf Scoters in the Pacific Flyway are reported to winter in San Francisco Bay.
Overall, the Cosco Busan Oil Spill has affected four of California’s Important Bird Areas (IBAs) - sites designated by BirdLife as critical habitat for one or more species of bird and recognised as a key component of global bird and biodiversity conservation.
The sites were given IBA status due to the fact they host over a million birds annually and some of the last remaining wetlands in California are contained within them.
“This is really the worst time and the worst place for this accident to happen, given that millions of birds are stopping here for their winter migration and finding this oily water”, said Graham Chisholm, director of conservation for Audubon California.
Local media report that an assessment of the long-term impacts of the oil spill released by the Cosco Busan Incident Unified Command -a partnership of agencies responding to the oil spill- say that imminent high tides could worsen the impact of the pollution.
