HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KRON) — Days before a sick and oiled seabird was rescued from a beach at Point Reyes National Seashore, another of the same species was also found beached and covered in oil at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, according to rescue officials.
The oiled common murre was rescued from the harbor on Christmas Day, International Bird Rescue (IBR) said. After being transported to the rescue center in Fairfield, the bird was first stabilized with fluids and provided warmth. The oil that gets stuck to feathers makes them no longer waterproof and can make the bird prone to hypothermia.
After the murre was stabilized, it was thoroughly washed of the oil by rescue staff. Photos shared by the nonprofit bird rescue show the bird when it was found oiled on the harbor and after its feathers were cleaned and restored to their original beauty.
According to IBR, the common murre is recovering and “well on its way to returning to the wild.”
The source of the oil is unknown in both recent incidents. Naturally occurring oil seeps can pose an elevated risk to migrating birds during the fall and winter months, the rescue said.
The S.S. Jacob Luckenback, a cargo vessel loaded with nearly half a million gallons of bunker oil that sank in 1953 between the San Francisco Peninsula and the Farallon Islands, has historically impacted bird life in the area. Oil spills linked to the vessel through chemical analysis killed an estimated 51,569 birds and eight sea otters between 1990 and 2003, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
In 2002, the U.S. Coast Guard removed a large portion of the oil from the vessel and attempted to seal in the remaining amount, CDFW said. As of 2016, natural resource officials said the vessel continues to leak oil during high swells.
The International Bird Rescue said it received nine oiled birds in December 2015 connected to the ongoing leak of the Luckenbach.
If oiled wildlife is spotted, people are advised to contact the Oiled Wildlife Care Network response hotline at 877-823-6926. “Pelagic birds like murres, loons, and grebes will beach themselves so they can attempt to preen off the oil,” according to IBR. “It’s crucial to recognize this behavior as a clear sign they need help.”
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (KRON) — Days before a sick and oiled seabird was rescued from a beach at Point Reyes National Seashore, another of the same species was also found beached and covered in oil at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, according to rescue officials. The oiled common murre was rescued from […]
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