Monday 19 September 2011

Marine Incident Response for Wildlife - free seminar


Sept 25 Wollongong – Marine Incident Response for Wildlife
“Be prepared”
YOUR INVITATION TO AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION
HOW CAN OUR COMMUNITY RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TO AN OIL SPILL INCIDENT?
Please join us at Wollongong at
The Illawarra Yacht Club
1 Northcliffe Drive
Warrawong
SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2011 : 9.00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Morning and afternoon tea provided, lunch BYO.

There have been six oil spills along east coast over the last decade, three of those occurring in the past two years. The most recent was the 12 tonne oil spill in Newcastle Harbour from a coal ship in August last year. With our marine coast being a superhighway for supertankers and the Pacific Highway carrying numerous fuel-laden semi-trailers, disasters can happen anywhere anytime at any scale. The boy scout adage to “be prepared” is key to effective community response.
I have been involved in several oil spills at various levels, both here and overseas. On the one hand I have seen a community working well to support a relatively small oil spill here in Australia (“Iron Baron”, Tasmania 1995); and on the other hand, at the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill last year, I saw coastal communities confused, hostile and devastated.
With concern about the preparedness of NSW coastal communities, I believe that we can be better prepared and organised. In order to raise awareness and get some conversations going about effective integrated response, Australian Seabird Rescue (ASR) sought and received funding assistance from the NSW Environmental Education Trust. With additional funding from the Lance Ferris Memorial Trust, ASR is now hosting five free public seminars along the NSW coast at Ballina, Pt Macquarie, Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong.
It’s not just about trained service personnel or the precious few trained wildlife rescuers who are well prepared to respond, but anyone who would want to help but isn’t sure how. Any incident, large or small, will be managed primarily by highly trained personnel but communities want to help, want to protect and restore their environment, and the best way they can do that is to become informed about how it all works.
The fifth and final workshop in this series will be held at in Wollongong at The Illawarra Yacht Club on Sunday September 25th.
Key speakers include ASR President, Marny Bonner who will discuss capture techniques and first aid; also NPWS Marine Fauna Co-ordinator, Geoff Ross. Other speakers will cover topics such as bird species at risk in the Sydney region.
We hope to see you there. Refreshments will be provided but BYO lunch.
Please register by email to: admin@seabirdrescue.org
or by phoning ASR during office hours on: +61 02 66 862 852.

Sunday 18 September 2011

Hawksbill Turtle in Batesman Bay


Here is a Hawksbill Turtle which was rescued recently. These turtles are from the warm waters of the tropics. This poor thing must have been swept down on the strong ocean currents. It was found on its back, covered with sand at Batemans Bay and seemed to be dead. Thankfully a lady rang Australian Seabird Rescue at 7am after she had taken the turtle home and put it in her shower. Rhonda contacted the NPWS after hours service and they were going to take it to Taronga Zoo that day. Unfortunately they didn't and it spent the night with NPWS. Rhonda wasn't going to wait any longer! She got a lady to bring it up from Batemans Bay and they met at Kiama. Rhonda and Bill then took it straight to Sydney. They were very upset that it hadn't got there sooner. It was very cold, dehydrated and pinkish underneath which means it could have an infection or it may have swallowed plastic. At least its in good care now and we hope it survives.

Bill shows the Hawksbill Turtle to onlookers at Kiama

The Turtle ready to travel to Taronga Zoo


Tuesday 13 September 2011

Lucky duck!

This is one lucky duck. He flew into power lines in a street in Oak Flats on Monday and landed near a swimming pool in a backyard. He had some blood and grazes under his wings and was very quiet. He was given medication for the pain and inflammation and he slept all day in care. The next day he was up and ready to go so was released to continue his journey.

Luck Duck who flew into power lines but survived to tell the tale to his mates!


Friday 9 September 2011

Successful Rescue Workshop

The Seabird Rescue workshop held last Saturday at Berkeley Yacht Club was a great success. Julie begun the day by telling us a little about how she started the South Coast Group 6 years ago after Lance Ferris, the original founder of ASR, held a workshop down here. Julie then described her current work in Cairns as a wildlife veterinary nurse and the problems encountered when working in crocodile infested waters! The day covered methods of capture, treatment and release of seabirds. It also included a practical component where a pelican was caught in a noose. For many of the participants this was the first time they had actually touched a pelican. We also had the opportunity to have a close look at a variety of (unfortunately) dead seabirds and marvel at their beauty! Thanks to all the Australian Seabird Rescue team for making this day a success!