Estonia January 2006 Oil Spill Summary

IFAW's Emergency Relief team was immediately mobilized to assist in the rescue and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife affected by the spill.  The team included veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitators from the US, UK, Germany, Belgium and Brazil, who worked with the Estonian Fund for Nature and the Environment Ministry as well as local volunteers.

It was initially feared that up to 35,000 birds could be killed.  Already 2,000 dead birds had washed up on the beaches.  Most of the birds impacted were long tailed ducks and golden eye ducks, along with mute swans and great crested grebes.  Many heavily oiled birds were spotted, but could not be caught. Conditions for the search and collection team were very difficult as much of the coastline was full of ice close to the beach that was too dangerous to walk out on as it was not very thick and there was a danger of people falling through.

Several small facilities initially cared for hundreds of birds that had been rescued.  The IFAW ER team helped to set up a centralized main rehabilitation centre in a modern building loaned by the Estonian government Ministry of the Environment in Keila, near Tallinn.  The work necessary to convert the building to an efficient rehabilitation centre was done with considerable help from the Estonian authorities, who supplied a group of about a dozen plumbers, electricians and carpenters.  The working conditions were difficult with temperatures dropping as low as -20°C.

A temporary rehabilitation center that had been based in a sauna in Tallinn closed down with the transfer of 108 birds to the new operation base in Keila. Transportation of the animals took place during the afternoon and by the evening the birds were settled into the new facility.  Birds from other temporary facilities were also moved to Keila over the following days.

On one occasion a swan was brought to the rehab centre at Keila by members of the public who thought that it might be oiled. It turned out that there was no oil at all on the swan, it was a juvenile molting from grey to white so he looked oiled. He spent a restful night in excellent accommodations with a 5-star meal and was released by the search and collection team the next day.

The first of the sea ducks, the most difficult of the birds in care to rehabilitate, were released on 18 February. 

While in Estonia, the IFAW ER team did formal training with members of the Estonian Ministry of the Environment, and the NGO Estonia Fund for Nature. This was to re-enforce the theory behind the practical experience these volunteers gained working alongside the IFAW team over the three weeks of the response.

The last of the IFAW ER team members left Estonia on 28 February to return home after three and a half weeks of field operations.  At that time, all of the birds had been released except for five swans that were later released by the Estonian government as they needed to gain more weight before returning to the freezing conditions.

The final number of birds released was 61 from 156 that were admitted to the Keila rehabilitation centre (39.1%).  Many of the birds were in bad condition when they were admitted to the centre for various reasons including inappropriate handling at other temporary centres in some cases, so their chances for survival were not high.

27 Mute swans out of 29 released
22 Goldeneye ducks out of 76 released
1 Velvet Scoter out of 2 released
7 Longtailed ducks out of 43 released
1 Common gull out of 1 released
2 Mallard duck out of 3 released
1 Red Breasted Merganser out of 1 released
0 Smew out of 1 released
 
It is important to remember that the success of any ER response is not determined only by the number of animals helped.  While in Estonia, we built significant relationships with the Estonian Fund for Nature and the Environment Ministry and trained local personnel and volunteers through practical hands-on experience as well as a 2-day training workshop given by Barbara Callahan and Curt Clumpner which was attended by 21 people.  We also strengthened our relationships with other groups including Sea Alarm, the RSPCA and OSRL and sponsored 2 volunteers from Project Blue Sea in Germany.

Because of the freezing conditions in Estonia, most of the oil became trapped beneath the ice, making a proper clean-up impossible.  It is very likely that when the ice melts during the spring thaw, oil will be released resulting in more birds being oiled.  We are hopeful that the capacity we left behind will enable the government and local groups to rehabilitate any oiled birds depending on the numbers that may be caught.