Four oil-covered little blue penguins
have been found off Papamoa
Beach
Oiled Wildlife Response member Kerri
Morgan said the oil-covered penguins had been brought to a wildlife centre set
up at Mt Maunganui where it was being given fluids and prepared for washing.
A total of 4 little blue penguins
and 2 shags have been rescued from the area today.
 |
| Wildlife Technician Pauline Conayne and Wildlife Centre Director Dr Brett Gartrell attend to two little blue penguins that were bought in because of the Tauranga oil spill. Photo Christine Cornege |
The finds confirm fears that fuel from
the stricken vessel could harm the wildlife around the reef and coastline.
The Rena was carrying about 1700 tonnes
of heavy fuel oil and about 70 tonnes of marine diesel when it ran aground this
week.
None of the fuel has been removed from
the vessel and it is still not known how much oil has leaked.
The leak appears to be coming from a
100 tonne volume fuel tank. Authorities had said the leak may have been coming
from damaged pipework.
Department of Conservation (DOC) and
National Oiled Wildlife Response Team members are monitoring the area for
injured wildlife and checking reports from the public, who have been told not
to handle any animals themselves.
Anyone who sees what they think may be
oil on a shoreline should ring 0800 OIL SPILL (0800 645 774).
More staff and volunteers are on
standby in case the response needs to be expanded. DOC staff from across the North Island have been put on standby and a number of
boats are ready to go.
The reef - about 4 nautical miles north
of Motiti Island
Going to get worse before it gets better:
Minister of Transport Steven Joyce said
today the situation with the stricken ship did not look good.
"The situation with the oil is
going to get worse before it gets better, I think there's no getting around
that fact.''
Mr Joyce said the top four teams in the
world have scrambled to help with the operation.
He said 100 staff are registered with
the Incident Control Centre and there has been excellent support from
international partners.
"It's a very complex and very
difficult operation and the reality is I think you wouldn't choose to start
from the position that these good people have found themselves in.''
Mr Joyce said two oil recovery vessels
have been sent from Auckland
Tauranga City Mayor Stuart Crosby
shared the minister's concerns this afternoon.
"It's going to be a huge exercise
and I think we need to brace ourselves for quite a significant event.''
Concerns for crew:
There are fears for the safety of the
23 crew members on board the stricken cargo ship.
The Filipino crew have remained on
board the 236m ship since it struck the reef early on Wednesday.
Media were taken to look at the oil
spill today by the Tauranga Coastguard and the Western Bay of Plenty
harbourmaster.
Their boat stayed on the edge of a
1000m exclusion zone set up around the vessel, monitored by Maritime New
Zealand patrols.
While there appeared to be little
activity aboard the Rena, it is understood the crew are working night and day
to pump water out of Rena's pierced hull and transfer oil to safer parts of the
ship.
Duty skipper Pete Donaldson said the
salvage operation and what would happen to the crew was at the forefront of his
mind.
"The last thing I want is for them
to abandon ship and leave it to the elements,'' he said.
"As far as the Tauranga
Coastguard's role, we are concerned.
"My concern as a coastguard duty
skipper is there is 23 guys out there and if the weather plays up, what is
going to happen to them?''
Bad weather and large swells are
forecast to hit Western
Bay
Previous rescues have involved a rescue
helicopter winching people from vessels and onto Coastguard boats.
"That might be possible in the
middle of the day with calm conditions but not with 30 - 40 knot winds blowing
us around,'' Mr Donaldson said.
Harbourmaster Jennifer Roberts said she
felt for the crew.
"I have a bit of empathy for the
guys on the ship because I'm a seafarer _ driving ships like that is what we
do. I understand how they feel.''
She said two boats seen close to the
ship were where salvage experts were diving from to assess the damage.
Source: NZ Herald. By Kiri Gillespie of the Bay of Plenty
No comments:
Post a Comment