On the road

Hello, Emily here.  I’m writing from the road as I spend a couple of weeks traveling in California.  This week, Christine, Tim, Nancy, Megan (a UCD 4th year vet student extern), and I have had the pleasure and the privilege of helping with the initial efforts of a research project on sea otters in southern California.  The project is a collaboration among biologists, veterinarians, and researchers from the US Geological Survey, CA Department of Fish and Game, Monterey Bay Aquarium, University of Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara Zoo, and others.   Researchers are working here to understand the life of an otter at the southern extent of the range.  For a few pictures of our work, you can visit OSPR’s Facebook site.

Next week, I’m headed to the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care and Education Center in San Pedro to work with International Bird Rescue.  Winter weather often brings oil to the surface of the ocean especially in southern California, and this year is no different.  Over the past week, we’ve seen tarballs and oil patties on the beaches and in the water, likely from these seeps.  A large number of birds, especially common murres, have been affected by natural seep oil over the past few months.  OWCN Member Organizations work hard to rehabilitate these animals and return them to the ocean.  They also report them to the OWCN so that we can monitor trends in space and time.  Feather samples can be analyzed by the California Department of Fish and Game’s Petroleum Chemistry lab to determine the source, and if the oil is determined to be from an anthropogenic source, rather than a natural seep, the OWCN is activated to respond.  The OWCN is not activated for animals affected by natural seeps; instead, we work to support our Member Organizations by helping to offset costs and by providing our time.  I’m looking forward to my time at LAOBCEC next week – it will be a fantastic learning opportunity for me, and I’m eager to help out.  For some more information about natural seep oil, check out this site by USGS.

-Emily

What Has Brown Done For The OWCN Lately?!?

For those of you who have attended Oilapalooza for several years now, you know that the OWCN has been working diligently on developing a medical records database that will capture electronically much of the basic information that we all collect during spills.

Imagine – field data that doesn’t have to be entered on the bird box, the beach search effort, the field stabilization form, the Live Animal Log, and the Intake sheet! Paradise you might say – and I would agree! Even better, for those of us who have played “Bird Record Bingo” with the records late at night during large spills to collate and reconcile the data so that wash lists, pre-wash exam lists, pre-release evaluations can be done at the earliest opportunity. Ah, it brings a small tear to my eye just thinking of it!

Well, in order to try and make this happen, the OWCN has been working for a long, long time on different iterations of just such a system (and as the resident Ol’ Timer on this, I have files and versions dating back to 1998 discussing this very issue). The most recent exciting evolution of this has been partnering with UPS (yes, Big Brown) on the modification of their TrackPad system, used for tracking packages throughout the world, to track birds (and their data) through the facility. This system will use a combination of handheld PCs and laptop computers, all connected to both a local server and a remote server at UC Davis, to capture the basic info we need to move animals through to system. Ideally, this will also include the integration of bar codes on bands, on cages/pools and on examiners so that those basic data can be quickly and effectively collected with few errors.

On the data analysis side, this system would (and will) be coupled with custom reports so that, at the push of a button, we can have bird wash lists generated based on pre-established criteria, medical records available to review, and the animal number so urgently needed by the Unified Command available on a near-real-time capability.

All this sounds great, you say. Well, where is it?!? Well, we have had a number of hurdles to go over – some more challenging than others (Deepwater Horizon, loss of key OWCN staff), some more technical in nature (the OWCN Director needing to learn server technology) and some simply due to the lack of time from all parties involved. However, in the last several months, due largely to the persistence of Emily and the availability of Mike Dutra (our UPS lead contact), we are making great strides in moving forward. We actually have a system ready to be “alpha-tested”, looking at entering the data from each of the facility areas and ensuring this information is correctly transferred to the servers. Once that is done, we will be ready to work directly with our other rehabilitation partners to ensure the information captured is done in the most effective manner.

So, while it isn’t ready for the official unveiling quite yet, I am ecstatic about our most recent progress. Hopefully, at the next Oilapalooza, we will have more than just pretty pictures to show – maybe we can have wet labs on how to run the system! Stay tuned!

- Mike

IOSSOCRVTC?

That’s right, yesterday was the Inaugural Oiled Southern Sea Otter Care and Response for Veterinarians Training Course.  Well, I know Mike likes acronyms, but  . . . . perhaps we’ll just stick with Oiled Sea Otter Vet Training Course.

As I said, yesterday the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz hosted the first ever OWCN training course for veterinarians in sea otter care.  With the help of Drs. Melissa Miller, Mike Murray, and Dave Jessup, we trained a dozen California (and one Washington) wildlife vets in the basics of oil spill response and clinical medicine of southern sea otters.

Dr. Miller demonstrating sea otter necropsy findings.

Sea otters are unique marine mammals for a number of reasons, both regulatory and biological, so they warrant a day all to themselves.  After covering some background on spill response, we heard about clinical medicine, anesthesia, diseases, and washing of sea otters from the world’s experts in the field (all of whom maintain close relationships with OWCN).

Dr. Miller, who has conducted literally thousands of necropsies on sea otters, had some specimens for us to poke and prod.  She gave us a crash course on the differences one might see when examining an otter killed by a shark bite compared to one killed by a boat strike (both all too common for southern sea otters), and gave us some great tips on what to look for when examining a living otter.  Dr. Murray then demonstrated some clinical techniques using the carcasses.  Being veterinarians, we had no problem going directly from the necropsy lab to the kitchen for lunch!

Dr. Jessup leading veterinarians on a tour of the sea otter facility he helped design.

We also got a tour of the “otter taj mahal,” as we like to call it, by Drs. Jessup and Ziccardi, who designed the facility to care for, wash, and hold over 100 sea otters in the event of an oil spill.  Although the facility has been around for a while now, yesterday’s course was an important step in increasing California’s readiness to care for sea otters affected by petroleum spills.  The participating veterinarians were incredibly enthusiastic and asked us great questions that are going to help us refine and clarify sea otter response protocols.

The two Dr. Mikes enjoying their coffee before the lectures start.

The MWVCRC staff, including its new director, Laird Henkel, did a great job welcoming us and making sure everything ran smoothly.  No one wants there to be oiled sea otters, but as of yesterday, we are all confident that best achievable care just got better.

Christine

ICS Training Opportunities

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in ICS training (Incident Command System) offered by the United States Coast Guard. I was so impressed with the professionalism, enthusiasm, and commitment to protecting our nation’s waterways that was shown by all the “Coasties” that I met during the four-day course. When I sometimes start to wonder if all our efforts are making a difference, all I really need to do is re-energize by spending a little time talking with the amazing people that make up our partner organizations and affiliated agencies.

While you may have heard that ICS training can be a little less than stimulating at times…it really is an essential tool for everyone who wants to work on an oil spill response. It’s the system that our government agencies have agreed on to use to organize the response for any disaster. Therefore a basic knowledge of ICS helps the average citizen to be better prepared for any emergency such as wildfire, earthquake or flood that might occur in their “backyard”. In fact the system works so well, that many non-governmental organizations use the same principles to organize events such as concerts, festivals, and community events (4^th of July Fireworks displays, parades, etc.).

If you ask any oil spill response veteran to list the three biggest challenges faced when responding to a large oil spill, they will say, “Communication, communication, communication!”

Communication difficulties: http://www.jimbo.info/weblog/?m=200909

One of the main objectives of ICS is to solve this problem.   It does so by setting up an organization system that is:

• Flexible: Can be scaled to the size of the “event”
• Establishes a Chain of Command: All responders know who their supervisor is (i.e. who they should report to and who will hold them accountable) and all supervisors know who and what information they are responsible for communicating to their staff.
• Establishes a common communications plan that includes use of common terminology and protocols.
• Establishes a single command structure where the most qualified on-scene authority becomes the Incident Commander (single person, mostly in small response) or the Unified Command (Small team of experts that act as single command, larger responses).
• The response is managed by Incident Objectives that are based on the following priorities:
  • Human safety
  • Incident stabilization & protection of the environment
  • Protection of property or commerce

If you are interested in learning more about ICS, there are several free, online courses. They are offered through FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute. Allow approximately 3 hours to take each course.  You must complete the course in a single uninterrupted session in order to receive your certificate.  If you have to leave the course for a break, do not exit from the course or close your browser window.  Follow the links below, and then click on “Interactive Web Based Course” in the upper right corner of the page.

1. The Introduction to Incident Command System (ICS-100) introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. It also explains the relationship between ICS and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS100b.asp
2. ICS-200, or ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents, is designed to enable personnel to operate efficiently during an incident or event within the Incident Command System, and provides training on and resources for personnel who are likely to assume a supervisory position within the ICS. http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS200b.asp
3. Additionally, IS-700, which provides an overview of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), is useful and provides additional information related to how government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations work together during domestic incidents. http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/is/is700a.asp

If you find ICS training helpful, the FEMA website provides other opportunities for additional on line trainings. It can never hurt to be more prepared!

- Nancy

USCG oil spill response: http://www.uscg.mil/d17/D17%20Divisions/drm/DRAT/DRATpage.asp

ICS training: http://emsi-ics-services.com/pgs/ics.html

MV Rena Update: First Penguin Release!

Responders boxing up the penguins before heading to the release site.

Hello Everyone,

My last day in Tauranga has been an exciting one, as today was the first release of little blue penguins back out into the wild.  After a great deal of work by the cleaning crews to get the beaches ready, one location was deemed suitable to release penguins to.  The lucky penguins who originally came from that area (Rabbit Island), spent the week going through a sort of fitness test, to make sure they were healthy enough for release.  After a six hour swim and a waterproof check, they visited with the vets and received a health exam, and then had to jump up on the scale to make sure they had been eating enough fish and maintaining a healthy weight.  Those who passed their test were placed into animal carries and carried off to the beach this morning.

Preparing to release.

The release itself was a large event.  Hundreds of people showed up, including many locals, several school groups and politicians, and many of the people involved with the Rena spill on various levels.  Everyone clapped for the penguins as they entered the release location on the beach, and the boxes were placed in a semi-circle around the waterline to prepare for the release.

Little blue penguins heading home.

A beautiful native prayer ceremony was held, and at its conclusion all of the boxes were opened at the same time.  Most of the penguins took right to the water and began swimming directly for their home on Rabbit Island, and after a few minutes all that was left were small prints in the sand leading to the water.  Truly a great day for the penguins and the folks that have worked so hard to send them back to the wild.

Prints from the penguins heading home at last.

I would like to give a big thank you to the whole crew that I worked with these past few weeks, especially the Massey University team for inviting me to come.  I have learned so much while I was here, and I hope that I helped you all along the way.  Also, thanks to the International Bird Rescue staff that was here, it was wonderful to see friendly, familiar faces in the crowd.

Some of the response crew after the release.

To everyone back in the U.S., have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend, and I will see you all soon!  And to view some videos of the penguins, check out our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/OiledWildlifeCareNetwork

-Becky

Rena Spill – Update 11/11/11!!!

Hi Everyone,

Because sometime you eat too many fish...

Just a quick spill update for 11/11/11 (well, actually it’s 11/12/11 here, but….).  I’ve been hard at work the past few days.  My life has become wake up, feed penguins, schedule the personnel, feed penguins, sleep, repeat.  Surprisingly, I have yet to grow tired of the little blue penguins, even considering a penguin flung fish juice in my face this morning,I have cuts all over my hands, and I can’t scrub the fish smell off of my skin.  It is amazing the amount of work that goes into caring for these little guys.  Feeding alone takes 6 hours out of the day (not including prepping the fish), and cleaning is a world in it’s own.  Wendy Massey has been leading up the cleaning crews for the aviaries (pronounced “avery” here, like the boys name), which consists of 5 people spending the entire day cleaning.  With the changes being made to ready the penguins for their eventual release, that number will go up to 6.

Wendy Massey and her cleaning crew, helping to herd penguins for their afternoon feeding.

The exciting news is we heard today that they have made a good deal of progress getting oil off of the ship, and they will hopefully finish up soon.  Much planning is now going into how best to prepare the penguins for release and making sure everything is all set for them to go.  Speaking of going, I need to get going to help with the afternoon feeding.  Hoping all is well with the network members back home, and don’t forget, just because I’m gone, doesn’t mean that you guys can skip out on watching recorded webinars!!!

-Becky

M/V Rena Spill Update

Hello Everyone,

Some of the team from the Auckland Zoo. They are responsible for caring for the endangered dotterels.

Day 2 for me working at the wildlife center here in Tauranga. So far everything has been great; the facility is well organized, everyone knows what they’re doing, and the people are fantastic. My first day here, I spent the morning working with the endangered dotterels (see Kyra’s post on November 14th for more info on them). There is a rotating team from the Auckland Zoo that is here to take care of them. The recovering endangered-species-breeder in me really appreciated the amount of work that is going into taking care of these birds to preemptively protect them from oil, and the team is doing a fantastic job. These birds are a very shy species, so additionally, the team has to take extra efforts to keep their stress levels down.

Pauline demonstrating how to feed penguins.

In the afternoon of my first day, I was introduced to everyone’s favorite, the little blue penguin. As I used every ounce of my self control to not scoop up penguins and cuddle them (they really don’t like that, nor is it good for them), Pauline, the personnel manager here at the facility, gave a demonstration in penguin feeding. With several hundred of these birds at the facility, penguin feeding is probably the most time consuming activity each day.

I was also able to squeeze in a quick tour of the facility, and had a chance to see how Pauline manages the volunteers here. I’ve already learned a few things that I think will help with managing volunteers, should we have a spill in California, and am eager to learn more.

Day 2 here has me spending day feeding penguins again, and I have to say, I’m already getting really good at picking fish scales out of my hair. I’m hoping this afternoon to also spend some time stopping in at each area of the facility, just to learn about the flow, and to talk more with Pauline about how she keeps the communication flowing about personnel needs in each section.

More to come soon….

-Becky

M/V Rena Spill: Day 19 (MZ Day 10)

Kia ora everyone!

Things here in Tauranga are going very well since I posted last, though there is never enough hours in the day to get everything done. I never realized how much not having internet access in my hotel room cuts back on my capacity to blog, but it’s hard to do with filleted salmon smolts in one hand and a ravenous oiled little blue penguin in the other…

Courtesy Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

On to news. Probably the most notable activity here in the past five days (aside from the ongoing cleanup and wildlife effort) has been our host country’s rabid following of the Rugby World Cup finals (held in Auckland), where the All Blacks of NZ met and defeated France. Curt Clumpner of Bird Rescue has a great descriptor of the evenings activities his blog (posted here), but the lead up to the final has been almost as amazing. Everywhere you went were banners on vehicles, supporting ads in storefronts (yes, they made me take a day off on Saturday so I was able to do a bit of a walkabout), and full-page newspaper photos. Cheers to the All Blacks and all the kiwis for their victory!

M/V Rena Command Centre

Since I have written last, I have been back and forth a bit both at the facility as well as the ICC (Command Centre), filling in where needed and trying to remain useful. For background (and to add local color, or colour here), the ICC is being housed in a large, unused supermarket in downtown Tauranga – odd to be walking about with “fresh chicken” signs still on the walls and pylons set up to keep responders from walking into parts of the floor where freezers used to be kept. All the different sections are sitting in different groups just like all ICCs I have been involved with, however people are much more polite and there isn’t the same level of frantic tension that I have come to expect. In fact, last night I had drinks, and this evening dinner, with the NOSC (National Oil Spill Coordinator) for Maritime New Zealand – a great person who also spent a month at Deepwater Horizon and we were able to compare our experiences there with this unfolding response. The biggest downside I can see is the definite lack of coffee availability onsite – just Nescafe inside and a small espresso cart outside (and in writing this maybe the lower caffeine availability leads to a calmer response….hmmmm).

At the ICC, our Wildlife table is the largest one in the facility, with between 14-16 people all working on the field and facility planning and management for the response. We also have additional staff at the facility doing logistics and operational deployments for field teams, as well as the HR, logistics and media issues at for the facility. The wildlife team are a great group of people – a combination of Massey University, Department of Conservation, and responder staff working together to manage the more than 140 people currently responding for wildlife in field and facility ops. I’ve been fortunate to work side-by-side with Kerri Morgan and Helen McConnell of Massey and Barbara of Bird Rescue, and have been involved with developing plans for long-term housing for penguins (so they can be kept until the risk of re-oiling is past), capture criteria for fur seals, helping to find and acquire appropriate fish for post-wash care (fish that is small enough to allow individual feeding yet has a low enough oil content to not cause fouling of the pools), updating the Incident Action Plan detailing the field operational plan for the Bay of Plenty, and a host of other planning activities. Good learning experience and good work being done.

Intake at the M/V Rena Wildlife Centre

Alternately, I have also been busy working into the animal care side at the facility, working in concert with the Massey and Bird Rescue staff as well as the local responders and “vollies” – primarily in oiled bird holding. As I said previously, the facility is composed primarily of marquees which hold birds that are not being left in pools. Most of these marquees have had ducted heating added to manage heat through masterful engineering from Bill Dwyer and his staff, allowing oiled birds to be kept at adequate temperatures. Much of our activities in this area revolve around getting the birds strong enough to withstand wash and making sure they are approved in a rapid manner to move on to cleaning. This has been somewhat of a challenge due to initial weight loss causing us to move from the typical activity of feeding slurry mixtures via stomach tube to force-feeding fish – a more time-intensive and messy proposition due to larger salmon smolts needing to be cut prior to feeding. However, the evidence of success is the birds themselves, and their weights have been coming up well and birds are definitely more fit entering wash, making it worth the results of salmon guts being flung into your face regularly.

As the numbers of oiled birds coming into the facility declines (which we hope is an ongoing trend, but are watching the daily report from the salvers on the ship carefully), we are seeing more and more birds who have been washed and are needing time being reintroduced into pools to regain waterproofing. Since I last wrote, that now encompasses a tremendous effort – seven pools, four tents and many people zipping back and forth from pool to pen to pool to allow the more than 200 clean little blue penguins time to return to normal condition. Julie, Michelle and Dee of Bird Rescue and Bridey of Massey have done a heroic job getting them back into shape in less-than-ideal conditions. The plan is now to begin to move them into one of several 7 x 9 m penguin enclosures (each of which has a pool and appropriate haul out areas) that will allow long-term holding in relatively low maintenance environments until the fate of the M/V Rena becomes more clear. Stay tuned on this effort…

Again, the ghost of volunteer coordinators past is reminding me that I am far too wordy for my own good so I will sign off for now. I’ll touch on other areas, including the field ops and dotterel holding/capture, in my next treatise.

- Mike

M/V Rena Spill: Day 14 (MZ Day 5)

Hello all and Kia Ora-

Sorry to be so delayed in writing, but it has been a busy five days. That and Internet access is limited to the facility and not my hotel – good for dealing with emails but poor for sitting down and updating everyone.

Just some background – I am in Tauranga (which I am just now learning how to say, much less spell) helping to support Massey University and Maritime New Zealand’s National Oiled Wildlife Response Team. In the early days of the spill, Kerri Morgan, Oiled Wildlife Response Coordinator of the NOWRT (and yes, those of you who know me knew an acronym was coming from that) contacted many of the international oiled wildlife response organizations, including the OWCN and International Bird Rescue, to determine interest and capacity to assist. In the following days, Massey asked OWCN and Bird Rescue for three people to assist – one to help at the ICC (the command center for the response), one to help establish the facility, and one to deal with marine mammal issues if (and when) they should arise. I was tapped for the latter role, and was able to catch a plane soon after. At the same time, more oil was released and an additional five Bird Rescue staff were put on standby and eventually deployed.

Wash Trailer and Marquee at Rehabilitation Centre

On arrival here, I was expecting what is normally found in the early days of a large spill in many regions – far too much to do, far too little key equipment on the ground, and a beehive of activity that often isn’t entirely in a forward direction. What I found at the facility was an extremely organized (or as I am learning to spell it, organised), well planned and calm layout, with excellent equipment, trained personnel and a positive overall feel. Dr. Brett Gartrell, the academic lead for Massey’s Wildlife Health Centre (yes, I mention that they just HAVE to be different from UC Davis through their spelling), in cooperation with Curt Clumpner of Bird Rescue on the management side and Bill Dwyer of DwyerTech on the facility development side, had the facility, staff and responders working cohesively on the animals coming in, as well as planning for the further development of the facility to take in up to 500 oiled birds and 10 oiled fur seals.

Joining Curt and me at the center from the states was Michelle Bellizzi, Julie Skoglund, Susan Kaveggia and Dee Goodfriend of Bird Rescue, as well as Barbara Callahan of Bird Rescue at the ICC. Absolutely every single person here has been a joy to work with – the five veterinarians from Massey at the facility, the additional folks at the Command Centre, all of the paid field and facility staff , and the numerous “vollies” being slotted into the system. The New Zealand Department of Conservation (or DOC ) is leading the field collection efforts similar to how USFWS led bird collection efforts on Deepwater Horizon.

The facility itself is a bit different from what most folks in California are used to.  Massey, as part of their planning process, has pre-identified sites throughout New Zealand that can be set up for animal care facilities. the site in this region is on the grounds of a water treatment plant, providing a large source of fresh water in addition to available space. As to the specific components of the facility, wash and rinse capabilities are built into one of two sea container that DwyerTech had previously developed (gorgeous by the way), and they were dropped on-site, providing appropriate volumes of warm, soft water needed to wash the birds and seals.  Most of the rest of the facility is comprised of a series of tents (or marquees here) which are joined in series, with external heating units vented into them. Equipment was pre-staged in the Massey containers and trailers, and was quickly mobilized throughout the facility.

Birds are being housed initially in 1 meter square plastic heavy-duty fruit crates with net bottoms built within. Effective but heavy. The OWCN, on request, shipped over 20 soft-sided pens to help in the effort, and those are currently being assembled to help at the pools. The pools are standard 4.5 m round above-ground pools similar to the KD pools we use there. A dry run for seals was built in a quiet part of the facility, providing good haul-out space plus away from most of the traffic on site. The last part of the facility that has been being built is a series of individual aviaries to house NZ Dotterels, a highly endangered shorebird that Kyra blogged on previously. The trick on these birds is that, as it is the breeding season, each must be kept separate and, as they are endangered plus highly stress-prone, minimal staff have been involved in their care.

The protocols and practices here are fairly similar to what is used by most large professional oiled wildlife rehabilitation programs, with an initial intake and blood sampling, a period of rest with nutritive and fluid tubings, followed by cleaning then gradual movements into pools to regain waterproofing. Again, the folks here are top-notch, providing excellent care to the animals collected.

On to those animals. When I arrived, five New Zealand fur seals had been collected alive during response efforts, however one oiled juvenile unfortunately died in care. Of the four remaining, none appeared to be oiled and had other medical issues that had to be addressed.  Fortunately, two days ago, we were able to successfully release three of these seals on the Western side of the North Island, thereby successfully keeping them away from the slick.

Restraining an Unoiled Fur Seal

In working the seal issues here, I have again been working with great people – Dr. Laura Boren of DOC as the local seal lead, several wonderful husbandry folks from both the Aukland Zoo and Marineland of NZ, and DOC field personnel that are acting as “fast action teams” should seals be reported as oiled. Laura and I quickly worked together to provide better guidance on what to look for to determine whether a seal was oiled or not, compiled information from reconnaissance (or recce here – I feel so multilingual!) tours to determine high risk areas, developed a decision matrix to assess when (and if) seals were to be collected if observed in the oiled area, and compiled a roster of available personnel.

As those who know me know, sitting still is not my strong suit.  Therefore, I jumped into the general bird care where I was needed – rinsing, tubing, med checks, etc.  I have to admit, little blue penguins are rapidly climbing up my list of favorite species. However, as this blog post is now over 1,100 words, I have a little voice vaguely similar to Kaiti’s ringing in my ear saying “Wrap it up!”. So I will hold more discussions on the bird care to my next post.

I will try and post every other day if I can find Internet. Take care, try not to spill oil California, and E noho rā.

- Mike

Update on Rena Oil Spill

As I write this blog, Dr. Mike Ziccardi is probably just arriving in New Zealand to assist with the wildlife response of this current oil spill.  Once Dr. Ziccardi is “settled in”, I am sure he will fill us in with some of the news from this spill.  In the meantime, however, it has been a challenge for all of us back in Davis to find the most up to date and accurate information on this spill.  After reviewing several sites (including Massey University, National Public Radio, and the Irish Times), I have pieced together what I think is some of the latest information.  I hesitate to recommend a single website for information, but if pressed I would suggest checking the Massey University website (http://www.massey.ac.nz/), since some of the response staff are from that university, and they seem to keep it fairly current.

The latest information that I have gathered is the following (as of Oct. 14, 1400hrs Pacific Coast time):

Approximately 350 tons of oil have spilled into the water, and about 70 containers have fallen off the Rena and are now floating in the water or washed up on shore with debris from the containers scattering across beaches and water. The concern now is that the large crack in the Rena appears to be extensive, and may lead to a complete break of the ship at any moment, further spilling fuel oil and diesel into the water.  The Rena has 220 tons of diesel, and 1,870 tons of fuel oil on board.  There are plans underway to try to pump the oil off the ship before it breaks apart, but this operation would take at least 14 hrs and be very dangerous. Tugs may be used to stabilize the stern of the Rena while oil is removed, but this operation is still being considered at this point.  Several salvage vessels are in the area collecting floating debris from the containers that have fallen overboard. In the meantime, oil has come ashore along several beaches and is expected to enter Tauranga harbor and coat more beaches in the coming days.

As for the wildlife, around 1,000 birds have been collected dead, and 130 have been recovered alive and transferred to the Oiled Wildlife Response Unit in Mount Mauganui. In addition, 5 oiled seals have been recovered, and there has been pre-emptive capture of 5 individuals of the New Zealand Dotterel (Charadrius obscurus). It is estimated that there are only 1,500 individuals of the Dotterel, which is a small shorebird that nests on beaches along some of the impacted shoreline. “Pre-emptive capture” means capture of wildlife before they become oiled. Because of the highly endangered nature of the New Zealand Dotterel, it was decided to try to capture some of these individuals to help prevent them from becoming oiled.

Check back for updates on this spill.

Kyra.

New Zealand Dotterel. Wikipedia Photo.