Birds Rescued From Oil Spill Fight for Life

Officials Thursday still had no idea who was responsible for the south San Diego Bay oil spill on Wednesday that killed at least 29 birds.

Thirty-four birds were rescued from the oil slick near the Navy Marina on the bay side of the Silver Strand, between Coronado and Imperial Beach. Three of the birds had died by Thursday night.

Lt. William Powell of the state Department of Fish and Game said he doubted if the spill killed more than 50 birds.

“Some might have flown away, gotten cold at night and died, so we have no way of knowing exactly how many have died,” Powell said.

Those caring for the rescued birds fear that many of them will be unable to survive.

The Coast Guard estimates that 200 to 1,000 gallons of a diesel fuel was spilled at an inlet near the marina, where private boats belonging to Navy personnel are kept.

Oil from the spill was largely removed by cleanup crews Wednesday. A slight residue remains that will take a few days to dissipate, the Coast Guard said.

Thirteen of the rescued birds were taken to Sea World. Project Wildlife volunteers, who care for the birds at their homes, took seven. Fourteen were inside a room at the marina.

The three birds that died were at Sea World.

The only birds that seemed to be faring well were those at the marina. “They’re doing great,” Marina dock master Jim Stearns, said.

The 14 ducks, secluded in a room, were eating and drinking, but their feathers still contained a bit of oil. Although the birds had been washed three times, which is usually enough to remove the oil, they will have to be washed again, Stearns said.

He said that many of the wild ducks were almost like pets and that he often fed them at the marina.

Oil damages the birds’ natural waterproofing, which helps keep them afloat, said Scott Drieschman of Sea World. And as the birds try to clean their feathers, they swallow the poisonous fuel. A long-range threat is absorption of the fuel through the birds’ skin, causing numerous disorders, Drieschman added.