Cosco-Busan Spill Response
Search and collection teams were dispatched on Wednesday, November 7, in the early afternoon on foot, by boat, and by all-terrain vehicles. They have continued to work to find oiled wildlife.
Once the wildlife, in this case birds, is collected, they are placed in suitable carrier and taken to the Recovery and Transportation trailer (below), which was located at Fort Mason and, as of Saturday, November 11, is at the Berkeley Marina. Initial stabilization is performed on each bird and they are tagged and logged.
From the stabilization unit, the birds are taken to the OWCN participating facility in Cordelia (near Fairfield).
Below: Dr. Greg Massey, OWCN's Response Veterinarian, performs an intake exam on an oiled surf scoter, assisted by Katy Siquig. Vital signs are taken and a priority level is assigned to each bird.
Below: this adult male surf scoter is heavily oiled.
From the intake room, birds are taken in to a warm room where they are monitored and fed regularly until they are strong enough to wash. This may take a few hours to a few days.
Once stable enough to wash, they proceed to the wash room
... and then rinsed.
After being dried in special drying pens and established to be waterproof following preening, they are placed in pools.
Above two photos courtesy Erin Siegal
A calling loon made many exhausted staff and volunteers smile...
Click here for sound of loon
38 birds (mostly grebes) were released at Half Moon Bay on Friday, November 16
