Seven Massey staff involved in Tauranga oil spill clean-up

The University has a large presence at the Oiled Wildlife Response Centre that has mobilised in Tauranga in response to the grounding of the container ship Rena.

Wildlife veterinarians Kerri Morgan and Helen McConnell are leading the wildlife response and are assisted other University veterinary staff, Dr Brett Gartrell, Baukje Lenting, Sarah Michael and Pauline Conayne, along with communications adviser Bryan Gibson, who is assisting them and Maritime New Zealand with the high level of national and international news media interest in the operation.

More Massey staff members are likely to be called into action in the coming days.

So far seven little blue penguins and two pied shags have been brought into the centre. They are being washed daily to remove oil and most are now clean. The cleaned birds swim in pools to regain their waterproofing.

Dr Gartrell says it will take some days or even weeks before the birds are well enough to be released.

The birds are being fed with a warm saline solution containing glucose and an antifungal for respiratory problems. Following this they are fed a fish slurry consisting of whole salmon, fluids, vitamins and salt.

As well as birds, Dr Gartrell says the centre is also capable of caring for marine mammals such as fur seals, which are common in Bay of Plenty.

The response centre is now ready to accommodate up to 500 birds and can increase its capacity if necessary.

The University is contracted by Maritime New Zealand to provide the oiled wildlife response to any environmental disaster. The team has been involved in recovery operations in Southland, Queensland, Australia, and Spain.