Captive husbandry and veterinary care of seabirds during the MV Rena oil spill response

Abstract

ContextSeabirds were the most common taxa captured alive as part of the oiled wildlife response to the grounding of the container vessel MV Rena in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. AimsTo describe the management of seabirds during the spill response, to outline the common problems encountered and to make recommendations for future responses. MethodsSeabirds were collected from 7 October 2011 to 14 January 2012. They were stabilised and underwent pretreatment, washing and rinsing procedures to remove oil, followed by swimming physiotherapy to restore waterproofing and long-term housing in outdoor aviaries. The birds were released in batches close to the original sites of capture once the wild habitat was cleaned. Key results428 live seabirds were admitted. There were two temporal peaks in admissions associated with the ship grounding and when the ship broke up. The majority of live birds were little penguins (Eudyptula minor; 394/428, 92%). Most seabirds admitted (393/428, 91.8%) were contaminated with heavy fuel oil, with the remainder (35/428, 8.2%) found unoiled but starving and/or exhausted or with injuries. Little penguins had lower mortality during rehabilitation (28/394, 7.1%) than other seabird species combined (27/34, 79.4%). Seabirds in poorer body condition on arrival had higher mortality, and unoiled birds were also more likely to die than oiled birds. In oiled little penguins, the degree of oiling on the plumage ranged from 1 to 100%, but mortality was not significantly associated with the degree of oiling (P=0.887). Pododermatitis affected 66% of little penguins. The most common causes of death (n=45) included weakness, anaemia and hypothermia in oiled seabirds (16/45, 35.6%), and starvation and weakness in unoiled seabirds (14/45, 31.1%). ConclusionsTotal survival to release was 87.1%, primarily influenced by the species involved and the body condition of the birds on arrival. Unoiled seabirds had higher mortality rates than oiled seabirds. ImplicationsOiled wildlife can be rehabilitated with good success, even when heavily oiled, or to a lesser extent, when found in poor body condition. More work is needed to refine species-specific rehabilitation protocols for seabirds, especially for those being admitted in emaciated body condition.

Anaesthesia of a little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) for magnetic resonance imaging

“…4 During treatment of pododermatitis of little penguins after oil spill, a reported sedation protocol for debridement included butorphanol (4 mg/kg IM) combined with tiletamine and zolazepam (0.05-0.15 mg/kg) or midazolam (0.1-0.5 mg/kg IM). 5 West et al suggested 1.5 mg/kg midazolam administered IM for the sedation of little penguins for radiology. 2 Many sources also advocate the use of mask induction of anaesthesia with a volatile agent mixed in oxygen.…”

“…Of the reported anaesthetic protocols for penguins, there is a large variation in methods and drugs used. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] General anaesthesia (GA) for MRI acquisition necessitates separation between the anaesthetist and the patient during scanning, increasing the anaesthetist's reliance on monitoring equipment rather than direct patient assessment, as well as having an association with a long duration of procedure.This case describes one anaesthetic protocol, highlights potential complications that may be encountered and suggests improvements that should be considered with future cases.…”

Analysis of the impact of lake environmental water pollution on the health of outdoor swimmers based on STIRPAT environmental impact assessment model

“…The water pollutants in the lake area in the suburbs of a city are mainly phosphorus and nitrogen indicators. Judging from the monitoring results of the four factors of total phosphorus, total nitrogen, transparency and PH value, which are the evaluation indicators of the nutritional status of the lake, the lake water in the suburban lake area of a certain city is still in a state of eutrophication, with the appearance of periodic intensive growth of aquatic plants and peculiar smell in the water body, resulting in the deterioration of the lake water environment quality in the suburban lake area of a city and affecting the landscape of the lake area [34]. In terms of time distribution, the pollution degree in the suburban lake area of a certain city has strong regularity, and it mostly occurs between May and July every year, in terms of spatial distribution, artificial lakeshore areas are the main areas.…”

Effects of pollution on marine organisms

“…Little penguins ( Eudyptula minor ) fared the best with nearly 80% survival. Poor body condition upon arrival resulted in higher mortality, while degree of oiling had no significant impact on survival (Gartrell et al, 2019). Other researchers documented adverse impacts to birds from oiling and rehabilitation beyond survivorship.…”