"How a modern and fully-laden cargo vessel can sail straight into an island beggars belief."
--Roger Cuthbert, biologist for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Another story filled with stupid human tricks. A freighter has run aground and broken apart on Nightingale Island in the South Atlantic, spilling 16,000 tons of fuel oil in the waters. The oil slick has surrounded the island, threatening the population of endangered Northern Rockhopper penguins. An estimated 20,000 appear to have been "oiled" and more are at risk as oil continues to spill from the freighter. The remote location is complicating logistics for wildlife experts to treat the affected birds.
Learn more about Northern Rockhopper penguins here.
Here is a powerful (and painful) video of the spill effects shot by National Geographic photographer Andrew Evans (h/t thebes):
Here are the basic details from the International Bird Rescue Research Center:
The MS Oliva ran aground on Nightingale Island, one of three islands of the Tristan da Cunha group, on March 16, 2011. All 22 crew were rescued before the ship broke up and leaked oil into the sea. The freighter was shipping soya beans from Rio de Janeiro to Singapore. It is said to be also carrying 1,650 tons of heavy crude oil.
Nightingale Island is regarded as one of the world's most important wildlife habitats. The island is home to 40% of the world’s population of Northern Rockhopper Penguins and about 20,000 have already been confirmed oiled.
There are species of albatross, petrels and shearwaters that nest on these islands. However, all of the reports of oiled birds have been about the penguins. The likely reason for this is that many of the flighted bird species fly out to sea before landing on water, thereby avoiding the oil along the coastline. Since the penguins are not flighted, they have to swim through it to get to the islands, making them the most vulnerable and highly impacted.
The logistics of reaching and treating the affected birds are complicating rescue attempts. Rescue teams and critical supplies will not arrive in sufficient quantities for several more days.
Logistics are difficult at best. An old fishing factory will be used as a rehab center. There is limited water, and no airport, so supplies are either air-dropped there or are brought by ship every few months or so. All people must arrive by ship, and it takes 4 days to get there from Cape Town, South Africa. Many of the birds have been oiled for over a week, which limits their chances of survival. The birds cannot be removed from the islands and brought to the mainland due to disease transmission concerns.
And if the oil was not enough, the ship has also spilled rats with its soy beans and oil.
Conservation groups said the wreck could pose a different ecological threat to the chain as rats could have come ashore from the vessel, which was carrying 66,000 tons of soybeans from Brazil to Singapore. Several islands in the archipelago are rodent-free, and a rat infestation could potentially do more harm to bird life than any oiling, experts said.
Here is the statement posted by the Tristan du Canhu principality on March 22:
A grounded cargo vessel has been wrecked on Nightingale Island – part of the Tristan da Cunha UK overseas territory in the South Atlantic - and threatens to create a twin environmental disaster for the island’s wildlife, which includes nearly half of the world population of northern rockhopper penguin; one of the world’s most threatened species of penguin.
The concerns of the Tristan Islanders, the Tristan Association and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds include the threat of oil pollution from the MS Oliva’s fuel and partial cargo and also the risk of any rats on the vessel colonising the island, potentially placing the island’s internationally-important seabird colonies in immense jeopardy. The fuel oil and cargo of 1500 tonnes of heavy crude oil is already leaking into the sea, poses a major hazard to the island’s tens of thousands of pairs of penguin as well as the economically-vital rock lobster fishery. Oil now surrounds Nightingale Island and extends in to a slick 8 miles offshore from the wreck. Hundreds of oiled penguins have already been seen coming ashore.
The Tristan Conservation Department who have quickly deployed a team of nine to the island, has already placed baited rodent traps on the shore in the vicinity of Spinner’s Point, the headland on the north-west of the island where the bulk carrier has grounded.
A salvage tug is currently en-route from Cape Town with an experienced crew and environmental expert but she is not due to arrive at the island until Monday. The ship has already broken in two, but all of the 22-strong crew are safe. As this is no longer a salvage operation we understand that the operators/insurers are now looking to charter a second vessel who will be going to Nightingale to clean up the oil and with the help of the Tristan conservation department, clean the birdlife.
Richard Cuthbert is an RSPB research biologist who has visited Nightingale Island. He said: "How a modern and fully-laden cargo vessel can sail straight into an island beggars belief. The consequences of this wreck could be potentially disastrous for wildlife and the fishery-based economy of these remote islands. The Tristan da Cunha islands, especially Nightingale and adjacent Middle Island, hold millions of nesting seabirds as well as four out of every ten of the world population of the globally endangered Northern rockhopper penguins. Over 200,000 penguins are currently on the islands and these birds will be heavily impacted by leaking oil."
"If the vessels happens to be harbouring rats and they get ashore, then a twin environmental catastrophe could arise. Nightingale is one of two large islands in the Tristan da Cunha group that are rodent free. If rats gain a foothold their impact would be devastating. Fortunately, the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Department has already done a brilliant job in placing rodent traps in the vicinity of the wreck, with the hope these will intercept any rats getting ashore."
Trevor Glass is the Tristan Conservation Officer and has been working none stop since the incident occurred early on Wednesday morning. He has just returned from an emergency assessment visit and he reports:” The scene at Nightingale is dreadful as there is an oil slick around the entire island. The Tristan Conservation Team are doing all that they can to clean up the penguins that are currently coming ashore. It is a disaster!”
Accidents happen, so let's look at some of the deliberate stupid human tricks associated with this event.
The ship was carrying soybeans from Brazil. Soybeans have become a major export crop for Brazil and a leading contributor to Amazon deforestation. Increasing global demand for soy beans is driving clearing of more forested land in Brazil to keep up. Here is a summary of the dynamics from Covalence:
Forest soils in the Amazon are typically low in fertility and the resulting cropland is only viable for farming for a period of two or three years without intensive fertilisation and management. After several growing seasons the land’s fertility ebbs away and crop yields falter, leading the farmer to abandon it or a wide-scale use of artificial fertiliser and pesticides are needed to harvest crop polluting the ground and surface water systems.
Soy, at this moment, is the most important driver for deforestation, directly and indirectly. Directly because the savannahs and rainforests are being converted from natural vegetation into soy fields and indirectly, because in this region a lot of cattle farms are being replaced by soy farmers buying or renting land from cattle farmers. Consequently cattle farmers tend to advance into new forest area, causing more deforestation. Insofar as soybean infrastructure is concerned, the state government has plans to expand and pave roads to connect the soybean producing plateau areas with coastal traders. The improved roads are also meant to encourage multinational agricultural investment in the region. Environmentalists and native Indian tribal leaders warn the pavement will eliminate even more rainforest and pollute the region with crime, drugs and prostitution. Besides the state is planning an additional rail line for the soy areas to build a link between soybean fields and the manufacturing industry on the cost as well.
Much of the soybean crop goes into livestock production.
Where does the 250-million-ton world soybean crop go? One tenth or so is consumed directly as food—tofu, meat substitutes, soy sauce, and other products. Nearly one fifth is extracted as oil, making it a leading table oil. The remainder, roughly 70 percent of the harvest, ends up as soybean meal to be consumed by livestock and poultry.
So although the soybean is everywhere, it is virtually invisible, embedded in livestock and poultry products. Most of the world harvest ends up in refrigerators in such products as milk, eggs, cheese, chicken, ham, beef, and ice cream.
The demand for soybean meal for livestock has been driven by increased global demand for animal protein, particularly in the rapidly expanding economies in Asia.
As recently as 1995, China was essentially self-sufficient in soybeans, producing and consuming roughly 13 million tons of soybeans a year. Then the dam broke as rising incomes enabled many of China’s 1.3 billion people to move up the food chain, consuming more meat, milk, eggs, and farmed fish. By 2009 China was consuming 55 million tons of soybeans, of which 41 million tons were imported, accounting for 75 percent of its soaring consumption.
The freighter was bound for Singapore. Singapore is an exception among the "Asian Tiger" economies in that soybean imports are primarily used for soy-based food products.
One of the joys of the global shipping industry is the difficulty in finding the owners of ships responsible for accidents. Ships are often flagged in a handful of countries where regulations are lax and taxes are low, Malta being one of them. This accident illustrates the problem.
The owner of the wrecked vessel could not be immediately identified. The authorities in Malta, where the ship is registered, did not respond to a request for information on Tuesday.
New York Times
Fortunately not all humans are stupid, careless, or greedy. The Ocean Foundation is collecting donations to support the penguin rescue efforts. I hesitate to mention it given the need for donations to aid the Japanese recovery from the earthquake and tsunami. If you do have the financial ability to send a small donation to support the rescue efforts, it will be appreciated. Although the ship's owner will eventually be located and forced to pay for the cleanup efforts, the organizations responding to wildlife crisis operate on small budgets and have to charter a boat to bring in teams and supplies to Nightingale Island.
Badly oiled Rockhopper penguin
To learn more about the accident, cleanup, and rescue efforts:
International Bird Rescue Research Center
Ocean Doctor
The Penguin Lady (Facebook)
Tristan du Cunha principality official website