FORIMMEDIATERELEASE
February22,2016
Mediacontact:RussCurtis
Mobile:415.533.1357,E-Mail:[email protected]
NewOiledBirdsTiedToOldSunken
ShipStillLeakingOffSanFrancisco
EscapedoilfromS.S.Luckenbachcontinuestohauntmarine
wildlifeinNorthernCalifornia–morethan60yearsaftersinking
OiledseabirdsrecentlycaredforbyInternationalBirdRescuehavebeenconclusivelytracedbacktoa
leakingcargoshipthatsunkoffthecoastofCaliforniamorethan60yearsago.
SinceDecemberof2015,BirdRescue’s
wildlifecenterinFairfieldhascaredfor
nineoiledbirdsincludingaPacificLoon,
Red-neckedGrebe,WesternGrebe,andsix
CommonMurres.Allthebirdswere
rescuedalongbeachesinMontereyand
SantaCruzCounties.
“InternationalBirdRescueexiststohelp
mitigatehumanimpactsonbirds,andthe
Luckenbachunfortunatelyisahugehuman
mistakethatcontinuestotaintthese
beautifulseabirds,”saidJDBergeron,
ExecutiveDirector.“Wewillcontinueto
useour45yearsofexperiencetowashandrehabilitatecontaminatedwildlife,totrainotherstodoso,
toinnovatewithcareoptions.Ultimately,thiswholeeffortistogetmoreofthesebirdsbacktothe
wild.”
www.Bird-Rescue.org·SanFranciscoBay·LosAngeles·Anchorage· [email protected]
Todate,threebirdshavebeenreleased,twoarestillincare,andthefourremaininghavedied.ARedneckedGrebewasoneofthosereleased.Hereisdescriptionofthestepstorecovery:http://blog.birdrescue.org/index.php/2016/02/patient-of-the-week-red-necked-grebe/.
FeathersamplesfromtheoiledbirdssenttoaCaliforniastatelabconfirmedthattheoilcamefromthe
S.S.JacobLuckenbachthatsankin180feetofwateronJuly14,1953about17mileswest-southwestof
SanFrancisco’sGoldenGateBridge.Thiscargovesselwasloadedwith457,000gallonsofbunkerfuel.
Ithasbeenleakingsporadicallyovertheyears–especiallyduringwintermonthswhenstrongcurrents
bringoiltotheocean’ssurface.
TheCaliforniaDepartmentofFishandWildlife(CDFW)OfficeofSpillPreventionandResponse(OSPR)
announcedthesefindingslatelastweek.
Inearly2002,oilassociatedwithseveral"mysteryspills"wasfirstlinkedtotheLuckenbach.These
includedthePointReyesTarballIncidentsofwinter1997-1998andtheSanMateoMysterySpillof
2001-2002.
Overtheyears,BirdRescueestimatesithastreatedthousandsof“mysteryspill”birds.
“BirdRescuehasshoulderedmuchofthecostofcaringfortheseoiledbirds,goingbackmanyyears.”
saidBergeron.“Theoceansarebecominglessandlesshospitableforbirdsandothermarinewildlife,
evenwithoutthesetoxins.Westepuptohelpbecausewebelieveeverybirdmatters,andwe’re
gratefulfortheincrediblecommunitysupportweget.”
BySeptember2002,theU.S.CoastGuardandthetrusteesremovedmorethan100,000gallonsofthe
fueloilfromthevesselandsealedtheremainingoilinsidethevessel–includingsome29,000gallons
thatwasinaccessibletobepumpedoutoftheship’stanks.
Whattodoifyouobserveoiledwildlife
Anyoneobservingoiledwildlifeshouldnotapproachortouchtheanimals.Pleasereporttheexact
locationandconditionoftheanimaltoOiledWildlifeCareNetworkat(877)823-6926.
Howoilaffectsbirds
Whenoilstickstoabird'sfeathers,itcausesthemtomatandseparate,impairingwaterproofingand
exposingtheanimal'ssensitiveskintoextremesintemperature.Thiscanresultinhypothermia,
meaningthebirdbecomescold,orhyperthermia,whichresultsinoverheating.Instinctively,thebird
triestogettheoiloffitsfeathersbypreening,whichresultsintheanimalingestingtheoilandcausing
severedamagetoitsinternalorgans.Inthisemergencysituation,thefocusonpreeningoverridesall
othernaturalbehaviors,includingevadingpredatorsandfeeding,makingthebirdvulnerableto
secondaryhealthproblemssuchassevereweightloss,anemiaanddehydration.
www.Bird-Rescue.org·SanFranciscoBay·LosAngeles·Anchorage· [email protected]
Resources
http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/expeditions/luckenbach.html
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/OSPR/NRDA/Jacob-Luckenbach
AboutInternationalBirdRescue
InternationalBirdRescue("BirdRescue")hasbeensavingseabirdsandotheraquaticbirdsaroundthe
worldsince1971.BirdRescueisdedicatedtomitigatingthehumanimpactonseabirdsandother
aquaticbirdspeciesworldwide,throughemergencyplanningandresponse,wildliferehabilitation,
researchandeducation.BirdRescuehasledoiledbirdrescueeffortsinover220oilspillsinmorethan
adozencountries.Ourteamofspecialistsoperatestwoyear-roundaquaticbirdrescuecentersin
California,whichcareforover5,000birdseveryyearandaturnkeyfacilityinAnchorage,Alaska.
BirdRescueisaproudmemberoftheStateofCalifornia’sOiledWildlifeCareNetwork(OWCN),hosted
attheSchoolofVeterinaryMedicineattheUniversityofCaliforniaatDavis(UCDavis).
InternationalBirdRescueisa501(c)(3)not-for-profitorganization.Contributionsaretax-deductibleto
thefullextentallowedbylaw.
Learnmoreatbirdrescue.org
www.Bird-Rescue.org·SanFranciscoBay·LosAngeles·Anchorage· [email protected]