San Pedro Center Takes In 8 Brown Pelicans Rescued From Santa Barbara Oil Spill
SAN PEDRO (CBSLA.com) — Brown pelicans rescued from the oil spill off the Santa Barbara coast are being cleaned and cared for at the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care Center Friday.
Emergency responders have so far rescued a sea lion, a seal and eight brown pelicans, which are being washed carefully and repeatedly to get them brown again.
"They're probably very uncomfortable," UC Davis response veterinarian, Dr. Christine Fiorello, said.
The pelicans came in to the center blackened by layers of crude oil, which biologists say was possibly burning the seabirds' eyes and searing their skin as long as it remained. The short-term pain is relieved as they're washed, but the long-term damage is not known at this point, veterinarians said.
"Especially with the reproduction system and some of the endocrine systems, but again as far as pelicans go, we just don't know," Fiorello said.
Each pelican is pre-washed with methalsoyate to break down the oil, and then washed with Dawn dishwashing liquid to remove the grease. While each rinse can take as long as an hour and a half, the priority is to clean their feathers and skin so the birds can once again trap air and repel water.
"Normally, their skin is completely dry, even when they're diving in the water because the feathers exclude the water completely," Fiorello said. "And as soon as the feathers become fouled with any foreign substance, be it oil or even something like Dawn dishwashing detergent, the water seeps to the skin and they get very, very cold."
Removing the oil allows the pelicans to regulate their temperatures and let them swim and fly again.
"It takes a couple weeks to recover and then they're actually released locally because they're migratory birds. They can go up and down the shoreline," said Eric Laughlin of the state's Department of Fish and Game.
Because they were rescued so quickly, veterinarians say the brown pelicans have a good chance of survival.
