Spring has Sprung! but sadly for our birds their trouble has just begun!

Careless thoughtless fishing has caused this horrific injury to this young breeding female. The net was tangled around this girl's leg! Whether it was floating (unlikely with 2 sinkers attached) or she has been caught in it and the fisherman has dragged her ripping the skin off the muscle and then cutting the rope as it has been cut not frayed. A professional wouldn't do that. Her foot was so tightly wrapped it had cut off her circulation, her leg was stripped of skin and feathers and heartbreakingly she had to be euthanized.

 

How could this happen? Both Australian Seabird Rescue team member and vet were in tears as they cut off the net to see if she could be saved. She just sat quietly hoping we could help her. An absolute tragedy which could have been avoided!

Betty

 

Horrific injury to a pelican caused by a fishing net.

Net caught around pelicans leg

Wollongong Harbour

A nasty incident was avoided today when Australian Seabird Rescue Team member Betty caught a  beautiful  female pelican. With fishing line caught around her wing. As we carried her up the beach fishing line came trailing behind her - 60 meters of it!! Imagine if this had become tangled around power lines when she was in flight. She would have been left dangling and struggling from the lines.

How would we have rescued her? One can imagine several equally horrific scenarios. Happily she was released unharmed with a belly full of fish as compensation. Fishing folk take note: Discard Fishing Line Thoughtfully.

Gillian

Thank you

Without the help of our invaluable vets this very handsome boy could have died a slow horrible death.   

From the first sighting on the breakwall, with his leg hanging down, it appeared his leg was broken.  While I was waiting for a Australian Seabird Rescue team member, Kay, to help me I watched him with the binoculars and spotted a bit of blood at the top of his leg.  With all fingers crossed I hoped it was a hook and not a major infection.  Unable to put his foot down he was pushed around by the other birds and swam away looking very sad.  I couldn’t find him the next day but then he turned up again and our co-ordinator, Kirsten, and I luckily caught him.  However, the hook was so deeply imbedded I couldn’t feel the barb and so to the vet – the hook was attached to a cheapo ‘squiggy’ lure and  it appears that the fisherman had pulled so hard the hook was pointing backward deep in his leg which was only revealed by xray.  All this for a 50c lure. 

The hook is imbedded very deeply in this poor pelican.

Fortunately the vet was able to remove the hook and the pelican was successfully released.

         

Luckily the vet was able to remove the hook without surgery and even though the pelican looked calm he was in fact on the verge of going into shock.  With a very sore leg and a long term shot of antibiotics he was sent on his way.  A great rescue for a big mature male as the birds are mating at the moment.

Betty

Avoidable

Yet again another sad story that could have been so easily avoided.  This poor little guy was spotted at Kiama harbour south of Wollongong.  He has obviously been dangled in discarded line as it was the ‘new’ braided type which won’t break.  In his effort for freedom his right foot had almost been severed and the left foot the line had become so tight it cut off the circulation and caused gangrene.  The only outcome possible – euthanasia!  It is so easy not to litter yet we are still facing these problems.  Obviously you care or you wouldn’t be reading these stories, so please if you see litter, especially plastic and fishing line, pick it up and put it in the bin.  Every little bit helps.  Thank you.

Betty

Seagull with fishing line tangled around legs causing severe damage.