Oil Spills: Rescuing animals, protecting the seas.
A single spill from an oil container can wreak enormous devastation on wildlife and habitats, yet hundreds of millions of gallons of oil pour into the seas every year. In response IFAW and the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) have partnered together to form the world's leading international oiled wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organization.
Because oil spills cause widespread devastation to coastal ecosystems and marine life, IFAW formed an Emergency Relief Team which aims to provide the best achievable care for oiled wildlife globally and to develop practical and achievable prevention strategies.
We support and work alongside local groups and community-based wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians in order to most effectively rescue and rehabilitate oiled wildlife.
In 2000, IFAW and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) mounted a rescue and rehabilitation operation that stands as the largest oil spill wildlife rescue operation ever undertaken.
At that time the MV Treasure, a Panamanian-registered freighter, sank eight kilometers (five miles) off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, releasing more than 1,100 tonnes of heavy bunker fuel oil. The oil began washing ashore on Dassen and Robben Islands, home to more than 40 percent of the world's population of African penguins.
When the bulk carrier, MV Jessica, sank with a cargo of more than 200,000 gallons of bunker oil and diesel fuel near San Cristobal in the Galapagos Islands in January 2001, IFAW sent a 12-member Emergency Relief Team to the area.
The team set up a temporary rescue and rehabilitation center on the island’s naval base, and worked closely with the Darwin Scientific Station and National Parks officials on cleaning oiled wildlife and establishing an oil spill protocol to assist in the event of a similar event re-occurring.
IFAW’s ER Team, including members of IBRRC, spent two weeks on the islands. More than 100 animals were reported oiled, including sea lions, turtles, and other wildlife. Twenty-two pelicans were so severely affected that they needed to be sent to a specially created rehabilitation center for recovery.
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Watch videos of IFAW ER Team members rehabilitating and releasing oiled birds! (Videos are 1-4 MB and may take a few minutes to load.)
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IFAW's Emergency Relief Team specializes in the rescue and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife such as this African penguin. Photo © IFAW
