ECOCIDE
Round-the-clock care for Peru's oil-stained sea birdsAn untold number of sea birds were killed by a massive oil spill off the coast of Peru.
A dozen Humboldt penguins are being nursed back to life
(AFP/Ernesto BENAVIDES)
The spill was described as an "ecological disaster" by the Peruvian government
(AFP/Ernesto BENAVIDES)
With oil on their wings, birds cannot fly or feed, and they lose the insulation they need to keep warm (AFP/Ernesto BENAVIDES)
The slightest vestige of crude can affect a bird's digestive system
The slightest vestige of crude can affect a bird's digestive system
(AFP/Ernesto BENAVIDES)
The spill was classified an 'ecological disaster' by the government
(AFP/Ernesto BENAVIDES)
Carlos MANDUJANO
Thu, 3 February 2022,
Hand fed fish and given gentle yet rigorous baths, penguins and other sea birds are slowly regaining their strength at a Peruvian zoo after a major oil spill that claimed many of their friends.
Of about 150 oil-stained birds rescued alive after the January 15 spill of some 12,000 barrels of oil, half later died.
The survivors -- penguins, cormorants and pelicans -- are being nursed back to health and independence at the Parque de Las Leyendas zoo in Lima.
With oil on their wings, birds cannot fly or feed, and they lose the insulation they need to keep warm.
Even birds not directly contaminated with crude fell ill or died after eating fish that were.
- 'Very stressed' -
At the zoo, the rescued birds are fed fish -- for the penguins it is their preferred prey of silverside and anchovies.
They are given a special rehydration mixture through a tube, bathed, and dried with a towel.
"Many of them arrived in very bad condition, which makes it difficult for us to handle them," said Giovanna Yepez, one of the rescuers at the zoo.
"The animals were very contaminated... were very stressed," she added. "It is a very hard job."
But after two weeks of intensive care, the penguins at least "have tripled their food consumption," said Yepez.
"I believe the penguins are on the right track, they are clean and waiting for the impermeability of their feathers to return so they can be released."
Even when the feathers appear clean, the slightest vestige of crude inside the beak "can affect (the bird) through the digestive system, the liver," added veterinarian Giancarlo Inga Diaz, hence the need for patience and thoroughness.
- 'Disaster' -
The spill, described as an "ecological disaster" by the Peruvian government, happened when an Italian-flagged tanker was unloading oil at a refinery off Peru's coast.
Spanish oil company Repsol said the tanker was hit by freak waves triggered by a tsunami after a massive volcanic eruption near Tonga, thousands of kilometers away.
The oil slick was dragged by ocean currents about 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of the refinery, prosecutors said, killing countless fish and birds, polluting tourist beaches and robbing fishermen of their livelihood.
The Humbold penguin -- a species classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature -- lives in colonies on the Peruvian and Chilean coasts, feeding in the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Humboldt Current which flows north from Antarctica.
Some 9,000 of the black-and-white flightless birds are known to exist in Peru.
They stand about 50 centimeters tall.
Peru has demanded compensation from Repsol for the spill at its refinery.
cm/fj/mlr/md
Carlos MANDUJANO
Thu, 3 February 2022,
Hand fed fish and given gentle yet rigorous baths, penguins and other sea birds are slowly regaining their strength at a Peruvian zoo after a major oil spill that claimed many of their friends.
Of about 150 oil-stained birds rescued alive after the January 15 spill of some 12,000 barrels of oil, half later died.
The survivors -- penguins, cormorants and pelicans -- are being nursed back to health and independence at the Parque de Las Leyendas zoo in Lima.
With oil on their wings, birds cannot fly or feed, and they lose the insulation they need to keep warm.
Even birds not directly contaminated with crude fell ill or died after eating fish that were.
- 'Very stressed' -
At the zoo, the rescued birds are fed fish -- for the penguins it is their preferred prey of silverside and anchovies.
They are given a special rehydration mixture through a tube, bathed, and dried with a towel.
"Many of them arrived in very bad condition, which makes it difficult for us to handle them," said Giovanna Yepez, one of the rescuers at the zoo.
"The animals were very contaminated... were very stressed," she added. "It is a very hard job."
But after two weeks of intensive care, the penguins at least "have tripled their food consumption," said Yepez.
"I believe the penguins are on the right track, they are clean and waiting for the impermeability of their feathers to return so they can be released."
Even when the feathers appear clean, the slightest vestige of crude inside the beak "can affect (the bird) through the digestive system, the liver," added veterinarian Giancarlo Inga Diaz, hence the need for patience and thoroughness.
- 'Disaster' -
The spill, described as an "ecological disaster" by the Peruvian government, happened when an Italian-flagged tanker was unloading oil at a refinery off Peru's coast.
Spanish oil company Repsol said the tanker was hit by freak waves triggered by a tsunami after a massive volcanic eruption near Tonga, thousands of kilometers away.
The oil slick was dragged by ocean currents about 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of the refinery, prosecutors said, killing countless fish and birds, polluting tourist beaches and robbing fishermen of their livelihood.
The Humbold penguin -- a species classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature -- lives in colonies on the Peruvian and Chilean coasts, feeding in the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Humboldt Current which flows north from Antarctica.
Some 9,000 of the black-and-white flightless birds are known to exist in Peru.
They stand about 50 centimeters tall.
Peru has demanded compensation from Repsol for the spill at its refinery.
cm/fj/mlr/md
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Repsol says it will finish cleaning up Peru oil spill in late MarchBy Marco Aquino
© Reuters/ANGELA PONCE
Workers clean up an oil spill at the beach as demonstrators take part in a protest outside Repsol's La Pampilla refinery in Ventanilla
VENTANILLA, Peru (Reuters) - Spanish energy firm Repsol SA said on Thursday it will only finish cleaning up a large oil spill off the coast of Peru in late March, pushing back an earlier timeline it had set of late February.
"That is an optimistic scenario," Jose Terol, a Repsol executive in charge of the cleanup told reporters during a visit to the company's emergency operations center.
The new timeline revises what company executives had said as recently as on Tuesday, that cleaning the beaches and the ocean would finish in late February.
Terol said the March deadline was tied to removing remnant oil from remote rocky cliffs, which are harder to reach due to strong waves.
The Jan. 15 oil spill of over 10,000 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean happened just north of Lima at Repsol's La Pampilla refinery, the country's largest.
Peru has called it the worst environmental disaster in recent memory and prosecutors have barred four top executives from leaving the country for 18 months.
Repsol has blamed the spill on unusual waves caused by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away in Tonga, but the exact cause remains under investigation.
The government has accused Repsol of misrepresenting the size of the incident. Repsol first reported the spill involved 0.16 barrels before updating the figure to over 10,000, after the government's own estimate indicated the spill to be around 11,900 barrels.
Terol explained cleaning the ocean could end in mid-February if weather conditions allowed, while cleaning up the beaches would finish in late February.
"We estimate we'll be in an acceptable situation toward the end of March, more or less," Terol said.
He added that the oil had spread to an area of over 105 square kilometers (40.5 square miles), although it had dispersed into smaller stains.
Terol said Repsol had cleaned about 33% of the spill. The company said on Jan. 28 it had recovered 35% of all the oil spilled, a figure it has not updated since.
(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Karishma Singh)
VENTANILLA, Peru (Reuters) - Spanish energy firm Repsol SA said on Thursday it will only finish cleaning up a large oil spill off the coast of Peru in late March, pushing back an earlier timeline it had set of late February.
"That is an optimistic scenario," Jose Terol, a Repsol executive in charge of the cleanup told reporters during a visit to the company's emergency operations center.
The new timeline revises what company executives had said as recently as on Tuesday, that cleaning the beaches and the ocean would finish in late February.
Terol said the March deadline was tied to removing remnant oil from remote rocky cliffs, which are harder to reach due to strong waves.
The Jan. 15 oil spill of over 10,000 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean happened just north of Lima at Repsol's La Pampilla refinery, the country's largest.
Peru has called it the worst environmental disaster in recent memory and prosecutors have barred four top executives from leaving the country for 18 months.
Repsol has blamed the spill on unusual waves caused by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away in Tonga, but the exact cause remains under investigation.
The government has accused Repsol of misrepresenting the size of the incident. Repsol first reported the spill involved 0.16 barrels before updating the figure to over 10,000, after the government's own estimate indicated the spill to be around 11,900 barrels.
Terol explained cleaning the ocean could end in mid-February if weather conditions allowed, while cleaning up the beaches would finish in late February.
"We estimate we'll be in an acceptable situation toward the end of March, more or less," Terol said.
He added that the oil had spread to an area of over 105 square kilometers (40.5 square miles), although it had dispersed into smaller stains.
Terol said Repsol had cleaned about 33% of the spill. The company said on Jan. 28 it had recovered 35% of all the oil spilled, a figure it has not updated since.
(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Karishma Singh)
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