Birds "cleaned up" after an oil spill have average life expectancy of less than two weeks?!?

[peacebird]

this report from a spill clean up in England: "The most visible effect of the spill was seen in the large number of oil covered birds that were shown on television and in newspapers.<2> Amongst the birds affected were guillemots, razorbills and the worst affected bird, the Common Scoter duck. 83% of the birds affected were Common Scoter, and it is estimated that 5000 of the 15000 population in the area were killed.<3><4> The RSPB set up a temporary bird hospital in Milford Haven to try and treat as many birds as possible. This centre is now a storage area but in the aftermath of the Sea Empress disaster it became a hive of activity where many birds were showered and cleaned as best as possible. Unfortunately the life expectancy of a cleaned bird that was oiled once it was let back into the sea was a very short 9 days. Members of the public also helped rescue the birds.<2> It was later revealed in a study by the British Trust for Ornithology that the average survival time for a rescued oiled bird was seven days.<4>"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sea_Empress


"Post-release survival of oiled, cleaned seabirds in North America:
The number of days between ringing and recovery of oiled, cleaned and released seabirds was extremely low, usually a matter of a few days or weeks, and for three species was 5–100 times lower than for non-oiled birds. For oiled, cleaned Guillemots Una aalge, postrelease life expectancy was 9.6 days and long-term recovery rates were 10–20% of those of non-oiled birds. Measures of survival were not greater for oiled birds treated in recent years with modern methods. The cost and effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts for oiled seabirds need to be reexamined in the light of results showing low post-release survival."
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119202326/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Is the bird cleaning effort really just "greenwashing" by the oil industry to appease animal lovers and environmentalists?

[fasttense]

1. I couldn't get your second link.

I was hoping to find out what exactly the birds die from after they are cleaned off.

I read somewhere that they were dying from oil poisoning, but I'm not sure that's what it's called. Maybe we need to develop an antitoxin to give to the birds.

[peacebird]

2. here it is again - plus another link

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119202326/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
Does this link work better?

this next article has a lot of info, and much more detail - in part it says that when birds clean their feathers they ingest the oil, which causes liver damage.
http://www.informaction.org/cgi-bin/gPage.pl?menu=menua.txt&main=oil_costs.txt&s=Oil

[Qutzupalotl]

16. Oil poisoning would make sense,

since most birds preen themselves, moving their naturally-secreted oils around. I imagine a petroleum-soaked bird would try to clean itself with its beak or bill, and swallow some in the process.

[AllentownJake]

3. It is a PR activity

To make people feel better after they fucked up an eco system.

[hayu_lol]

4. Birds live in a specific geographical area...

clean them of the oil and they are bound to be covered again within a short time. They live where they live.

Haven't heard if anyone was shipping these 'oiled' birds to new locations where they might have a chance to survive.

[AllentownJake]

6. If they are migratory

They will probably simply fly back to where they used to get food.

[jberryhill]

12. Would they be able to carry a coconut

By holding onto the husk?

[peacebird]

7. even when cleaned they have already likely got oil poisoning and liver damage

from ingesting oil when trying to clean their feathers to prevent hypothermia...

[kdmorris]

8. Some of the brown pelicans were released near Vero Beach

That's on the East side of Florida, where there is no oil. I haven't heard anything on whether they track the birds after they release them (as you mention, animals live where they live, so I wouldn't be surprised if they release them on the East side of Florida and the birds just fly right back to the Gulf)

[Mojorabbit]

24. They are tagging everything they

release according the the wildlife rehab email I get.

[madrchsod]

5. those birds need to be put down.

putting them back into the sea that is polluted is really stupid

[Igel]

9. Of course.

And, in addition to what's been said already, they already have natural oils in their feathers that help provide warmth and buoyancy (by trapping air).

Being being poisoned, chilled, and then returning to where they were first coated, it's amazing any survive at all.

It's not greenwashing. It's one of these things that people do because they feel the need to do something, and this makes them feel good while they can say it's all about the birds. That they haven't thought it through, that it really doesn't help the birds so much as it helps the humans, is thoroughly beside the point.

[Bluebear]

10. Makes for good press.

[Uncle Joe]

11. They should do it anyway for two reasons.

1. I would imagine the technique of cleaning birds will improve with practice leading to a much higher survival rate. If we don't clean them and learn what works best and what doesn't, then oil spills will always be a death sentence with the possibility of wiping out entire species.

2. If even a small fraction survives to the point of passing on their genes perhaps future generations of birds will be more resilient to both oil spills and cleaning, thereby improving survivability of the species.

Thanks for the thread, peacebird.

[joeybee12]

14. True, saving some is better than saving none...n/t

[Merlot]

23. You make good points. Plus the idea of giving up is lazy and immoral.

[Echo In Light]

13. Sad

[Cronus Protagonist]

15. Really??? This article seems to be all about lowering the stock value of Procter and Gamble

How will they sell more Dawn with the truth getting in the way so much?

http://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/savingwildlife.do

[mopinko]

17. well they are in a box, aren't they? if you don't even try

what happens. if you pick them up and euthanize them, do you really think that the average animal lover, or decent human being, for that matter, would accept that they were going to die anyway?
it would be kinder to euthanize them. the stress of being captured and handled, anesthetized in some case, is such that that is more than some birds can stand. i'm betting they are also not showing the pictures of the ones that drop dead just from being captured.
but it is in the nature of people to hope against hope.

[TK421]

18. They have no more natural environment to go back to, all thanks to us and BP n/t

[Odin2005]

19. Yep, it's feel-good BS that is nothing but marketing for dish soap.

[JoeyT]

20. And as an added bonus, teaching all the kids that are being encouraged

to take part (Donating Dawn and the like) that no matter how badly you fuck up the environment, there will always be a quick cheap fix that makes you feel far more morally superior than not fucking it up in the first place. We can't have them questioning energy policy ten years down the road.

[northernlights]

21. Treatment and care have improved with knowledge

According to the IBRRC, in the early years on 25% survived during treatment. They now have up to 100% surviving to be released. They don't release into areas where they will be re-exposed -- they transport them to remote areas away from the oil.

They are also starting to track them on release, for ongoing research, to improve the effectiveness.

http://www.ibrrc.org/faq.html

[SoCalDem]

22. Birds preen and ingest the oil..

They die with clean feathers , pneumonia and damaged internal organs..

but they die elsewhere, if they fly away..

or they return to their old stomping grounds and end up getting oiled again..

or they eat oil-poisoned food..

[blindpig]

25. It's all bad.

Expropriate without compensation.

Executives to the Hague, this is a crime against humanity.