Cape Town - Nearly 240 seabirds are being rehabilitated by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) following the oil spill from the bulk carrier stranded for two weeks off Buffels Bay near Knysna.
The Kiani Satu was carrying a cargo of 150 000 tons of rice and about 330 tons of fuel oil, some of which leaked from a ruptured tank.
The German bulk carrier was this week refloated and towed 110 nautical miles out to sea, where it sank.
Sanccob said it was cleaning and feeding 239 seabirds, including 66 oiled African penguins, 172 oiled Cape gannets and one white-breasted cormorant.
The oiled seabirds were found along the coast at Mossel Bay, Wilderness, Plettenberg Bay, Stilbaai and Cape St Francis and were taken by road and helicopter to Sanccob’s facility in Cape St Francis.
Sanccob said that for the next few days the washed birds would continue to be fed and hydrated while they regained their natural waterproofing.
Margaret Roestorf, Sanccob executive director, said: “Once again the suddenness of the Kiani Satu spill has shocked us into realising the speed at which oil spills happen, and reinforces the need for preparedness.”
Roestorf said a strategy developed two years ago to mobilise Sanccob’s oiled wildlife unit to be ready to act quickly anywhere in Africa or the sub-Atlantic was bearing fruit.
She thanked all the volunteers who were giving up their time to help.
Roestorf urged people who found oiled birds to contact Sanccob and not try and remove the oil from the seabirds themselves.
They should call Wilna Wilkinson on 082 326 4143 or Vernon Gibbs on 072 670 5108. - Cape Argus