Survival and Movements of Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) Rehabilitated From Oil Fouling Along the Coast of South America, 2000–2010: An Update
IAAAM 2013
Valeria Ruoppolo1,2*; Ralph Eric Thijl Vanstreels2; Eric J. Woehler3; Sergio Andres Rodríguez Heredia4; Andréa Corrado Adornes5; Rodolfo Pinho da Silva-Filho5; Ricardo Matus6; Carla Poleschi7,8; Karen Griot9; Cristiane K. Miyaji Kolesnikovas10; and Patrícia Serafini11
1International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, MA, 02675, USA; 2Laboratório de Patologia Comparada de Animais Selvagens, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnica, Universidade de São Paulo (LAPCOM-FMVZ-USP), São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil; 3Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, TAS, 7005, Australia; 4Fundación Mundo Marino, San Clemente del Tuyú, Provincia de Buenos Aires, 7105, Argentina; 5Centro de Recuperação de Animais Marinhos, Museu Oceanográfico, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (CRAM-FURG), Rio Grande, RS, 96200-580, Brazil; 6Natura Patagonia, Punta Arenas, Provincia de Magallanes, Chile; 7Fundación Patagonia Natural, Puerto Madryn, Provincia de Chubut, Argentina; 8Dirección de Conservación de Áreas Protegidas, Subsecretaria de Turismo y Áreas Protegidas, Ministerio de Comercio Exterior Turismo y Inversiones, Rawson, Provincia de Chubut, Argentina; 9Fundación Mar del Plata Aquarium, Mar del Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina; 10Associação R3 Animal, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil; 11Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Aves Silvestres (CEMAVE-ICMBio), Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Abstract
Oil pollution is a significant threat to all species of penguins. We examined data from six institutions rehabilitating penguins along the coast of South America: Emergency Relief Team of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Fundación Mundo Marino, Centro de Recuperação de Animais Marinhos-FURG, Associação R3 Animal, Natura Patagonia, and Mar del Plata Aquarium and data from band resightings and recoveries in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas.
From 2000 to 2010, 2183 oiled Magellanic penguins were rehabilitated as part of these organizations' routine activities or during emergency responses to eight oil spills. All rehabilitated penguins were flipper banded and released after meeting specific health criteria. In the time between their release and 31 December 2012, 43 penguins were resighted or their bands were recovered. Of these, 72% were alive when resighted. In many cases, the rehabilitated penguins travelled between several hundred to more than 2400km from their release location. Resightings extended for up to 9 years with two rehabilitated juveniles resighted after 8 and 9 years as breeding adults. Our results clearly indicate that rehabilitated oiled Magellanic penguins are able to survive for extended periods and swim considerable distances after being released far from their breeding grounds.
While the implementation of preventive measures, policies and surveillance should remain priorities in the reduction of negative impacts of oil exploitation on seabirds, our results demonstrate that rehabilitation is an important contribution to the mitigation of adverse effects of oil spills on Magellanic penguins.
* Presenting author