UNFORGIVABLE

                                          

A distressed call came in from a member of the public about a Royal Spoonbill caught in the reeds.  It seemed to have an injured leg.

On locating the bird and seeing the horrific injuries, Julie asked the woman to look away.

This poor juvenile Spoonbill had been attacked by a person or persons or worse still youths.  Its legs had been struck across the ‘knees’ with such force that both legs had been smashed with bones protruding and it was left to die in agony, bleeding.

These majestic, unassuming birds spend their time quietly foraging along the shoreline for shrimps and molluscs, etc.  This juvenile was probably ‘learning the ropes’ when he was attacked by one or more monsters, having no reason to fear humans, not knowing that some low life would hurt him.

But – is this what we are becoming – uncaring, cruel monsters.

Needless to say the poor thing was immediately euthanised and I apologise to Julie that she had to witness this cruelty.  If anyone has any information please contact ASR.

Betty

Spoonbill with broken legs

Are you kidding?

A distressed call came in from a member of the public about a baby goat on a local break wall and he was crying. She had rung the RSPCA and was told to ring Australian Seabird Rescue as the RSPCA does not have a boat.

This was approx 11am and being an area I patrol every morning this poor little kid was not there at 6am and can be confirmed by the local pro fisherman.

Some monster has dumped this poor little creature on the break wall with no food or means of escape surrounded by water.

A quick phone call to ASR team member Julie and my good friend local vet Joanne from Kembla Grange Vet Clinic we were all there within 15 mins.

RSPCA decided to attend and I assume contacted the fire brigade and police for help. This was quickly turning into a “circus” but ASR Julie and vet Joanne took control of the situation simply paddling the ASR kayak over and rescued the kid.

Returning to shore vet Jo checked him thoroughly before handing him over to RSPCA, who had no idea on how to capture him. But to know there are people out there capable of this type of cruelty is very distressing! Sadly this is not the first time animals have been dumped on this same break wall. Over the years we have had 2 sets of domestic ducks and 2 dogs all on different occasions and now this!

Baby goat safely back on dry land having been rescued from stranding on the breakwater.

Baby goat goes for a ride in the ASR kayak!

We have to stop people buying “that cute little thing” and then tiring of them. But why condemn them to terror and uncertainty when they can take them to the local pound and surrender them.

Have we really become such uncaring monsters?

Thank you again Julie and Joanne this little cutie now has a chance at a happy life.

Betty

All Creatures Great and Small

Australian Seabird Rescue team member Gillian and great friend of ASR Peter, recently attended a family orientated day in Moruya on the NSW South Coast.

This annual event the "Feast of St Francis" or endearingly known as the "Blessing of the pets" is held by St John's Anglican Church.

A lovely sunny day - this community event saw lots of people bring their pets to the church grounds to be blessed at the altar and font by Rev. Linda Chapman. After a lovely morning tea Rev Chapman asked Peter to give a talk.

It was a great opportunity to spread the word about ASR. Peter, an ex member, is very well versed on birds and the problems they encounter and is still very active on the South Coast; never hesitating to assist birds in trouble. Highlights of his very informative talk were how locals could help by being the "eyes" for ASR and reporting any problems whatsoever to the ASR hotline as we can't be everywhere and do rely on this help from the general public. The never ending problem of plastic in the ocean was also discussed. In particular balloons which are mistaken for food by most sea creatures and birds, a devastating impact is occurring with all washed up birds having plastic in their gut.

As rescue coordinator I always tell people we would rather attend 10 false alarms than one tragedy so never hesitate to ring.

A big thank you to Gillian and Peter for attending this event and handing out lots of brochures and cards.

Footnote: Next time you are planning a party of promotional event please consider paper streamers instead of balloons. They really are just as effective and less destructive.

Betty

FRIDAY 13th

Who said Friday the 13^th was unlucky?   This female pelican pictured with team member Leonie certainly had luck on her side.

ASR team member Leonie with the Lucky Pelican

I was checking to see if a juvenile pelican that had hit power lines the previous afternoon (where he had landed on his back) was OK – he was – despite looking as though he had really hurt his leg – it must have just been jarred so he got off with a few broken tail feathers.  Australian Seabird Rescue co-ordinator, Kirsten and I monitored him for over an hour the night of his accident.

Anyway, while watching him the next morning, I spotted this female pelican looking very sorry for herself and unable to raise any of our members at that time, I asked a fellow launching his boat if he could help – unfortunately that frightened her and on an adrenalin rush she managed a short flight into the adjacent wetland which is inaccessible by boat.

Now desperate, I rang team member, Leonie, who had retired from major rescues after injuring her leg.  A great big thank you to Leonie for responding and with her past experience and after a short ‘chase’ was able to get the pelican on the kayak and safely bring her to shore – a big paddle in the wind.  She would have perished overnight with a cold snap in the weather being unable to retain her body heat.  LUCKY 13!  This particular wetland is quite shallow with smelly black mud so Leonie had to then get home and ‘scrubbed up’ to go to work.

Thanks, again, mate – the bird is now settled in care and with treatment will be back out there in about a week.

Betty

Number 915

This handsome fella now has a smile on his face after being relieved of a large hook in his wing that had become infected, confirming the fact that these things don’t rust away or fall out.

 

ASR team member Shari with her first rescue.

 

The hook removed from pelican 915.

Congratulations South Coast Australian Seabird Rescue Team member Shari on her first rescue with the help of her husband Shawn and Judy and Ken from Wildlife Rescue.  It was a very successful capture.  As they were unable to remove the hook Shari contacted  Berry Vet for after hours  help and the vet removed the hook and we are very grateful to him

Due to infection and swelling he has to go into care for about 10 days.  Shari and Shaun kindly transported him halfway for a pickup to go into rehabilitation.

Thanks again Shari, Shaun, Judy and Ken  - it’s great when rescue groups can work so well together.

Betty

TOURIST TURTLES

Kate holding the second Green Turtle found off Wollongong within a month. This poor creature died due to plastic ingestion!

If only that were true - two sub adult green turtles within a month of each other! Both of the turtles should have been in North Queensland, not in the cold waters of Wollongong. So something was obviously very wrong.

The first turtle was found south off Wollongong with damage to his ‘shell’, possibly a boat strike. The second turtle found just to the north (spotted by a member of the public, Anthony and his children). The turtle was covered in seagrass and presenting as quite unwell, seen here with Australian Seabird Rescue team member Kate.

Being under license to National Parks, and required to contact them immediately regarding turtles, they were both transported to the ‘ magic’ team of vets at Taronga Zoo Hospital. After overnight care with Kay turtle 1 and Katie turtle 2, turtle number 1 will happily be released after repair work and R and R. Turtle number 2 unfortunately died at the zoo and an autopsy was carried out to find out why. Yep, you guessed it- a plastic shopping bag!

So this poor creature has drifted south on the current-  starving hungry - in pain with her intestines ‘Clagged’ up- unable to dive. In such a bad way she’s even been ignored by sharks.

Come on everyone- when are we going to wake up! Please if you see a discarded piece of plastic please pick it up and put it in a bin- if everyone did this it would make a big impact on what ends up in the ocean. Think twice about balloons also, especially helium-yeh they look good-yeh kids love them- but where do most end up? Yep- the ocean. ASR successfully lobbied the NSW Government to ban the mass release of balloons at Government and sporting events.

You see- floating in the water they look like jelly blubbers-the staple diet of many sea creatures and pelagic sea birds. We also just lost an endangered Northern Giant Petrel, most likely to plastic ingestion. 

Please- Stop- Think- Look- Act!!!

The ocean is part of our ‘life blood’. If we keep abusing it, the end result will be catastrophic to both human and creature existence. Even on pristine Lord Howe Island adult and baby birds that have died have had an unbelievable amount of plastic in their gut.

We do like to tell good stories- so if we all pull together it will make it a lot easier to do this.

Betty

Australasian Gannet

A late afternoon call to Australian Seabird Rescue from a holiday maker at Manyana regarding an injured bird on the beach prompted action. We were 2 hours away and it would've been dark by the time we got there so Wildlife Rescue was contacted. Thankfully they had a member who lived close and he headed out to get the bird. In the meantime I contacted the lady to throw a towel over the bird to prevent him going back in the surf. So the bird was rescued - fishing line untangled and an overnight stay with Wildlife Rescue. Julie and I went down the next morning to collect him. He still had 2 large hooks in his wing so we brought him home - removed the hooks and kept him in care for a couple of days to ensure he had 100% use of his wing.

With a clean bill of health he was released back into the wild. The ASR "mermaids" went into the surf to ensure he kept going and after about an hour of preening and getting the human smell off him he took to the sky.

Welcome to ASR Kate, seen here with Julie in the surf - all in the line of duty eh? Both girls down to their knickers to make sure the bird got away OK. I was very brave and stood on the beach taking photos. A big thanks to Wildlife Rescue for their help. It's great to be able to work with other groups to save our wildlife. 

A magnificent bird, the Gannet is a pelagic seabird that spends all its time at sea except for breeding. So this fellow, even though far from land, has had an awful experience with mankind due to careless fishing practise but thankfully the story has a good ending.

Betty

Australia Clean-up Day

The Australia Clean-up Day was postponed last Sunday due to the bad weather. Australian Seabird Rescue will be doing a clean-up this Sunday, March 11, 2012. Meet at the Reddal Parade Carpark, near Lake South Primary School, 9am. For more details contact the ASR hotline number 0431282238. Lets hope for an improvement in the weather!

Wollongong Rise and Shine award

All of us at Australia Seabird Rescue pride ourselves on being active in the community as well as on our patrols and rescues.

Every year Wollongong Council organises a major clean-up around the lake shore and the foreshore parks. This is called "Rise and Shine" and ASR is always in the frontline with gloves and hats to do our fair share.

This is just an 'add on' event as we have our own regular clean-ups around the boat ramps and surrounding areas giving us a good opportunity to talk to the local fisher folk.

So here are some of the girls at the Rise and Shine awards receiving a certificate of appreciation along with a very much appreciated $100 donation from the Wollongong Council.

Betty

Kirsten, Betty & Leonie receiving a Rise and Shine award from Wollongong's Lord Mayor.

Sometimes it requires the patience of Job to catch an injured pelican!

Here is a story from Betty about a rescue her and Leonie undertook on the Sunday.

Ever heard of the patience of Job? Ever wondered who Job is? I have the answer - Leonie.

Leonie and I responded to a call for a female pelican with a hook in her chest on 23rd October, at Gerringong, South Coast, NSW.

After failing to get much interest on the boat ramp from the birds, we pretended we also were not interested and just hung around. In the meantime some fellas came back in their boat with a couple of fish to clean. So off went Leonie and set up her noose to the side of the boat ramp. I threw all our fish and the fellas threw bits of theirs -  they did get a bit confused about which bird they were aiming for and almost hit Leonie with a lovely chunk of fish! Well the stubborn little girl with the hook just stood on the rock and missed out on all the good bits. The other birds had their fill and were just standing around preening or wandered back to the water. With just a few scrappy bits left on the sand it was on! Leonie on the boat ramp pretending not to look and the little girl staring her down. Who was going to give in first?

I just lent on the cleaning table ready to pick her up if caught. Finally after about 1/2 hour and a crowd of about 12 gathered, the little girl broke and walked into the noose - CAUGHT! In 10 minutes the hook was removed from her chest, the wound flushed with antiseptic and the line untangled around her foot. She was carried back to the water's edge and released with a cheer from the crowd.

With a lot of patience, a great result and good PR, as we handed out a dozen of our contact cards. A local lady was so impressed she has offered to check on the birds to see if they are still there as it takes Australian Seabird Rescue South Coast 1/2 hour to get from "home base" to Gerringong. She would've been in real trouble with the line tangled around her foot and attached to the hook in her chest.

Good on you Leonie! A great result for rescue Number 711 and thanks to the Fishos with a sense of humour.

Leonie waiting very patiently for the hooked pelican to step into the noose.

The pelican has a hook in her chest and fishing line tangled around her foot.

Pelican number 711 is successfully treated and released.

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.