http://www.birdlife.org/community/2012/02/first-assessment-of-endangered-norther\
n-rockhopper-penguins-since-2011-oil-spill/

BirdLife International [Written by RSPB]
First assessment of Endangered Northern Rockhopper Penguins since 2011 oil spill
Mon, Feb 6, 2012


Almost a year since thousands of endangered penguins' lives were threatened by
an oil spill on Nightingale Island – part of Tristan da Cunha, a UK Overseas
Territory in the South Atlantic – a survey to assess the birds' population has
taken place.

The bulk carrier, MS Oliva, ran aground on 16 March last year, a huge effort to
rescue the penguins was launched. The ship was travelling from Brazil to
Singapore with a cargo of 65,000 tonnes of soya beans and 1,500 tonnes of bunker
fuel when it ran aground. As the ship broke up in the rough seas, the soya and
oil were discharged into the waters around Nightingale. In the days that
followed, the oil reached Inaccessible Island, a World Heritage Site, and
Tristan more than 30km away.

With the group of islands being home to over 65% of the global population of
endangered northern rockhopper penguins, residents of Tristan da Cunha, known as
Tristanians and the Tristan Conservation Department, followed by staff from the
RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and Southern African Foundation for the Conservation
of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), came together and moved quickly to collect and clean
up the oiled birds and prevent many more from coming into contact with the oil.

Although efforts to rescue and rehabilitate the penguins were huge, it has been
unknown until now just how much the rockhopper population has been affected by
the spill. While results from the latest counts suggest the breeding population
hasn't suffered as much as anticipated, scientists are warning that the news
should be met with caution.

Dr Juliet Vickery, the RSPB's head of international research, said: "It's a big
relief that the initial results of the counts are better than we had
anticipated. We should not, however, relax our watch. There is much we don't
know about this species and the extent to which breeding colony counts reveal
the true picture of population trends is hard to ascertain.

"Though immediate impact is not as bad as we feared, there may be longer term
sub-lethal effects reducing breeding success, so it is vital that we continue to
monitor the birds closely for several more years to establish the true impact of
the oil spill."

Estimations show approximately 154,000 penguins bred on the island in 2011 but
estimates in the 1950s suggest there were `millions' of birds, with two million
pairs on Gough alone. The species remains globally threatened and the causes of
the historic decline remain unknown.

As well as the long-term effects on the penguins, the oil spill has caused
concern for the important rock lobster fishery. The fishery, which is Marine
Stewardship Council (MSC) certified as a sustainable and well-managed fishery,
is a mainstay of the island's economy.

Latest evidence shows that catches are way below normal and rotting soya has
been spotted on the traps. A dive survey showed that the wreck had broken up
considerably over the winter months. On the advice of experts the Nightingale
fishery has closed and the quota for the fishery at Inaccessible Island was
reduced from 92 to 53 tonnes for the 2011/12 season.

After the disaster, the RSPB launched an emergency appeal to raise funds to help
with the clean up. The appeal has raised almost £70,000 and will be used to
support penguin monitoring, strengthen the island's biosecurity, and facilitate
rodent control on Tristan to reduce risk of rats being introduced to
Nightingale.

Katrine Herian works for the RSPB on the island, was involved in the clean-up
mission last year, and helped carry out the counts. She said: "Something really
needs to be said about the huge Tristanian efforts in response to this disaster
– without them, this could have been a very different story. While the true
impact of the spill won't be known for some time yet, we can at least know that
everything that could be done was done."

Further information:

Northern Rockhopper Penguin factsheet
Nightingale Island Group IBA factsheet

Breeding populations of northern rockhopper penguins have been monitored on
Tristan da Cunha since the 1970s. Updated population counts across all four of
the islands at Tristan da Cunha (Tristan, Inaccessible, Nightingale and Middle
Islands) were made in 2009 by Tristan Conservation Department staff with
assistance from RSPB's Brad Robson and Peter Ryan of University of Cape Town.
Estimated breeding numbers at these four islands were Tristan 6,700 pairs,
Inaccessible 54,000 pairs, Nightingale 25,000 pairs and 83,000 pairs at Middle
Island

Related posts:

Race to save oiled penguins after tanker strikes Tristan da Cunha Hundreds
of oiled penguins have been found following a substantial oil leak from a
grounded...
First Tristan penguins released from `rehab' The first 24 penguins of more
than 3,600 admitted to the 'rehab centre' have been...
Nightingale Island emergency appeal The Nightingale Island disaster fighting
fund will be used to help the penguins and other...

This post was written by:
RSPB - who has written 34 posts on BirdLife Community.

BirdLife comprises more than 100 conservation organisations working together to
promote sustainable living as a means to conserve biodiversity. The Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds is the BirdLife Partner in The United
Kingdom.


..... ends .....


The speedy response from the Tristan Conservation Dept., the good people of
Tristan and the SANCCOB people in South Africa were most commendable. They have
my highest respect. I wish the people of the Caribbean Overseas Territories
were as informed, concerned and supportive of environmental issues.

Unfortunately, for this response to be effective for the penguins (remember the
penguins?) depended on SANCCOB actually getting to Tristan with their supplies
and equipment. I commented last June:

"The grounding was on 16 March.

"SANCCOB was aware of the situation within two days, and probably earlier.
They were involved in planning meetings and went into high alert status.
They announced that 15 trained people were prepared to depart.

"On 27 March they announced, with no explanation, that 5 persons were set
to depart the following day.

"They actually left on 29 March, nearly two weeks after the grounding.
It was later announced that there were 6 in the SANCCOB team.

"The official line from HMG is that the delay was caused by Tristan's remote
location. Getting those people there wasn't at all "impossible" It looks very
much like a simple lack of leadership in high places [in London]."

And yet RSPB is telling us today, "we can at least know that everything that
could be done was done." Why don't I believe them?

As a direct result of this delay, most of the penguins died unnecessarily. As
best I can tell, the delay was occasioned by indecision and lack of leadership
in London, not by Tristan being located in a remote place. It is thus
disappointing to see RSPB defending the FCO cover-up. Stupid me, I thought they
were supposed to be on the side of the birds.

Tristan's remoteness was not discovered last year by the FCO. Oil spill
emergency equipment, supplies and training should have reached Tristan many
years ago. It didn't happen because HMG refused to underwrite the cost. We are
somehow expected to believe that the islanders should tax themselves to support
a World Heritage Site which belongs not only to them but the world.

While the FCO told us the insurer was providing everything required, it was
necessary for several private groups to raise funds for the work with the
penguins. Both of these statements can't be true. Is it thus unfair for me to
believe someone's lying to us?

Testing of the Nightingale lobsters for oil content, etc. has been done in Cape
Town. Why have the results been suppressed?

Bob