The first bunch of grebes cleaned of oil at the Patagonia mystery spill in Argentina were released this week.In all, 14 Great Grebes were set free into the wild. At least 50 volunteers showed up to celebrate the release. They have been working with the IBRRC/IFAW response team to help remove the oil from the bird's feathers following the December 26, 2007 spill.
According to IBRRC's Executive Director, Jay Holcomb who has been working on the spill for 10 days: "Lots of tears and thank yous...They lost over 200 grebes. There are about 38 more grebes left at the center. We think most will be released in a few days."
See Argentina IBRRC's spill response web page
4 comments:
good picture!
Good news! At least volunteers are doing a good job and certainly deserve their celebration. Now, if the government would only control shipping a bit better, that would be even better news.
any idea of the survival rate of those released?
As of 3/4/08, here are the numbers from the Argentina spill:
Birds Treated: 642
Mortality: 327
Release: 306
Release Rate: 47.6%
(9 birds still in care)
The survival rate depends on a lot of factors, but with especially penguins, IBRRC and IFAW researchers continue to see high rates of living back in the wild.
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