Is cleaning of birds useful in wildlife conservation after oil spill ?

Washing of oil from the bird as a result of the gulf oil spill seems to be a great heart warming scene. But many scientists argue the result of such an exercise that has seen a lot of expense of manpower and money on the actual conservation of the wildlife. The most distressing news comes from the pelican breeding grounds. The endangered species are put to another test for their survival by the oil spill disaster. The exact estimate to wildlife can be taken from the number of birds brought to the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in a day. Per day nearly a hundred oil soaked birds are brought to the center with a maximum of 400 birds including pelicans seagulls etc recorded in a day. Once rescued and cleaned these birds are kept under observation for a week. From here the birds are then returned to the Tampa Bay in Florida for release via a coast guard plane. Ron Kendall, director of the Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University, however stresses the sad news that the cleaning of the oil covered birds can only extend their lives for only a very short time. This happens because the birds have already undergone a considerable amount of stress to ensure that the bird watchers miss their flight of hope very soon after their release. Another point is that the cleaning rescues only a very small percent of the population and the permanent damage to the wildlife has already been done. For every crude-covered bird at the center, at least 10 more are out on barrier islands and in the Gulf, experts say. The oil gushing out from the plant owned by BP has still not been stopped as yet. But due to the fact that oil emanating from the mile-deep well is not very toxic problem can be controlled.

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Posted June 12, 2010 by Parul Sharma. Comments and trackbacks are closed.
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