Many people came to rescue the animals that survived the oil spill occurred in the Ventanilla Sea, on the central coast of Peru, when the tank tank tank tame doricum, of Italian flag, carried out crude crude discharge operations in the La Pampilla refinery, of the Repsol company.
Mainly birds, but also mammals covered with oil, appeared exhausted and disoriented on the beaches as far as the thousands of gallons of oil that spilled on January 15 in the Peruvian Sea continued.And before this ecological disaster there were those who decided to rescue the animals, attend them and bathe them to remove the crude from them.But this first attention may not always be the most appropriate.
In this interview, the Zootechnical Veterinary PhysicWith them after being rescued.
Read more |Spill of 6000 barrels of oil in the sea pollutes fauna, beaches and protected areas in Peru
How to attend to the species that survive when there is an oil spill like the one we are seeing in Peru?
The first thing to be clear is that this is a long process and that consists of four phases. The first, the collection and collection phase of these birds. This must be done with biosafety to protect the bird and to protect us, whether from zoonotic pathogens or oil toxins and bring birds to an area where they should move to phase two. This second phase is triage and stabilization to evaluate birds and see how to stabilize them, that is, they reach the most normal parameters possible. This stage can last a couple of days or more, up to 5 days. Only after being stabilized, when they have their normal temperature, they are close to adequate and hydrated weight, we enter phase three, which is the area to bathe in adequate facilities with water, light and drain. Water must be warm, at adequate pressure and special detergents should be used. In Peru there is only one brand for it. It is a quite complicated bath, very stressful for the bird. When it is already clean, it enters the last phase, the release. At this stage it is evaluated if the bird has normal behavior, it can be fed, it can live in an open space without problems. This stage can last up to two weeks. Once all this time of a month or so has passed, you can make the release that will only be successful if the place where they lived is already clean, because we can free it elsewhere, but they will return to their place of origin. If it is not clean, the whole process will not have been worth it. That is what should be done. Here in Peru we are not prepared for this yet.
When the spill occurred, many people approached the animals and picked them up without any protection, has that been adequate?
There is a lot of citizen initiative, some more organized than others, but the main thing is the safety of people, because health should not be put at risk.That is why we are organizing training to some groups to explain this whole process and the risks it implies.There are groups that are being organized and obtaining the necessary biosafety for the rescue, and coordinating with Serfor [National Forest and Wildlife Service] that is currently collecting the birds and taking them to the Park of Legends where the process has been implemented from the process from thePhase two forward.There are many citizen initiatives that want to do the triage and stabilization in situ and even build a bathing area as close as possible to the rescue areas.But for now the important thing is that if a person is really sure who does not run risk, he is trained, he can collect and coordinate with Serfor to attend to birds.
And what should not be done when an animal covered by oil is located?
Bathe it, the animal should not be bathed, that is what should not be done.
There are animals to those who bathe immediately. What will happen to them?
As they normally do with cold water and without detergent or with normal detergents, it is very likely that these birds will die of hypothermia or have irritations in their mucous membranes, and that is also harmful, because the bird can die.As good actions that people want to do, this ends up being harmful to birds.
In the case of marine mammals, what is the protocol to attend them?
For mammals it is more complicated than for birds.And now the serious thing is that we have the affected marine otter, a protected and in danger of extinction.This species lives in affected areas and there are already videos of dead marine otters.That is the main problem.It is a very difficult kind of handling, because capture is not as easy as that of a median bird.Its capture probably involves some type of sedation that must be safe, a transport that has to be adequate and a much more specialized center to handle this mammal.
From the places affected by the oil spill, where do we find marine otter?
The Marina otria lives in the National Islands, Islets and Guaneras Reserve, which by the way does not currently have it as a priority species despite being threatened.And that species inhabits the Pescadores Island Zone, inside and outside the protected area.It is the main species of the rocky intermareal ecosystem of the Humboldt current.
What other mammal species do we find in the areas affected by the oil spill?
Marine wolves and obviously the cetaceans that under our law are not part of wildlife but are hydrobiological resources and are in charge of the Ministry of Production.At the moment no dolphin, marsoup or affected whale has been reported.The bottle nose dolphins are in the area but so far we have no report that some kind of ketacean has been affected.
And what species of birds are in the affected areas?
The most worrisome is Humboldt's penguin, categorized as vulnerable, and then there are guaneras such as the Guanay, the Peruvian piquero, the Chuita cormorant and the Tsrany head, among the species that have been rescued.
What are the minimum elements that a person has to have to approach an animal in these situations?
The whole body must be covered with waterproof clothes.Hands, eyes and face, and use KN95 mask, a respirator for toxic gases.Use at least two pairs of gloves, one of nitrile and one of kitchen, as well as Jebe boots, helmet and protective glasses.
Read more |Petroleum footprints: spills that affect Latin America
There are no rescue centers on the coast of Peru
Do you think there are enough specialists to address this environmental disaster?
It is still difficult to know why we are not prepared for this and we do not know the magnitude of the emergency.We have no data of how many birds have been collected, nor the slightest idea of the magnitude of the situation, so, under that premise, we can say that a lot of help from civil organizations, non -governmental organizations and, obviously, obviously, obviously, obviouslythat we expect the company's response.
What should Repsol do?
The company should act not only for the rescue of animals but for the remediation of the entire sea that includes wildlife, not only birds, but also marine invertebrates that are being affected.
What species of invertebrates?
For example crabs, octopus, snails, sea stars, hedgehogs and others.
Is the rescue of these invertebrates possible?
Those who are glued to the rocks will die, but, for example, the crabs no, some snails may not.I don't know specialists for invertebrates in Peru.
He has said that we are not prepared for these ecological disasters, why?
That's right, because no region of the coast of Peru has a rescue center.If we had rescue centers, we would not be trying to create a bathroom, triage, stabilization.The collection is simply done and from there they go to the rescue center with the appropriate facilities for this situation.There is no rescue center on the coast.There has never been that initiative.Actions from other countries can be repeated where extractive companies finance municipal or regional rescue centers.That figure would be ideal to have it in Peru, but we don't have it.
Where do these initiatives exist?
An example is Petrobras in Brazil that finances many of the rescue centers and are impressive.We don't have them here.The rescue centers that exist, authorized by the Serfor, are in the jungle and in the Andes and, basically, are financed through tourism, ecotourism or donations that, in the end, is not sustainable either.
How many rescue centers should there be on the coast of Peru and where should they be?
For me, primordial are Lima, Piura that is North Costa and Paracas.They are the three places that a rescue center must have for specific situations.
Read more |Environmental challenges to save Latin America oceans in 2022
No data on the impact on marine fauna
He mentioned that it is not known how many animals have been affected. What to do to know?
The authorities have to make sweeps, monitoring and sincere the figures.Nor is it clear who would have to do it.There is the Imarpe [Institute of the Sea of Peru] that has been making some counts.The OEFA [Environmental Evaluation and Control Agency] and Serfor could also do so, but there is no order.Moreover, the intergovernmental work table that is responsible for the relationship that the company has with the different actors of the government, the truth I do not know if it exists.It is a very good question to know if it exists or not.
Do you have a calculation of what the mortality of the species has been?
With respect to mortality, it is another fact that we do not have.We do not know how many they are surviving, how many have been taken to the Park of Legends and how many have died from the oil spill.We have no information.
What effects does oil have on marine fauna?
It has short and long -term effects. In the short term is death or irritation, for example, of mucous membranes. In addition, in birds and mammals it makes them lose their permeability that is linked to their ability to control their temperature well. We have clothes for the cold, they their feathers or fur. So, if it is full of oil, they cannot control their temperature well and may have hypothermia or hyperthermia if it remains a long time under the sun. Another problem is that they are breathing toxic gases that go to the lungs and can also be consuming these toxins through water, therefore, they would have gastrointestinal problems. Then there are the long -term effects, when oil is within the body and begins to assimilate, it can cause, for example, reproductive problems. In the case of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, studies were studied in populations and began to see that the eggs of this species did not hatch, but were broken. It was determined that part of the long -term effects of oil was that the shells were much thinner, very fragile and easily broke. Populations and groups of pelicans were lost. These are consequences at the individual level, but there are also the consequences at the population level. In this case, we are losing many individuals who are reproductive and important for populations.
How should we prepare for these emergencies?
We should think about a future that the big companies that extraction of resources or benefit from them must mitigate the consequences of their actions and how can they do it?Finishing regional rescue centers.That way we can make sure that if an oil spill occurs, they can take animals there.If an agricultural or agricultural company finds abandoned animals because they killed the mother, they can take them there.
What will happen to the animals that survive?
The animals that survive, under those circumstances, the truth, I do not think they are many.If I must give a percentage, probably more than 50 percent of those who have been affected and will die, and those who survive the treatments, then hope they have a place where to return, otherwise, if they do notHe manages to recover his habitat in a good time, they will live in captivity for life.But you also have to evaluate what consequences this spill will have, because oil is already in the environment and the animals that have not been trained could continue to consume contaminated invertebrates.
He mentioned that there are risks for people who have direct contact with animals without appropriate protection
We are facing an outbreak of the influenza virus, then, if any of those birds have avian influenza and we manipulate it, it can spread us, thus we would be introducing a new variant to our current outbreak that can modify everything.We are not in a position to risk a new outbreak of respiratory virus.
What can people transmit to animals?
We can also convey the influenza virus.Imagine the bird that is already stressed and we are going to transmit the influenza virus, it could get sick, then, no matter how much we bathe, it will not resist and can die.
The original article was published by Yvette Sierra Praeli in Mongabay Latam.You can check it here.
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