New Center to Care for Birds Caught in Oil Spills

From the days of the Santa Barbara oil spill to the disaster of the Exxon Valdez, the sad images are all too familiar--oil-soaked birds wallowing helplessly in black muck, shivering as they wait to die.

In the future, birds trapped in oil along the Southern California coast may get a better chance of survival thanks to the opening Wednesday of the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care and Education Center in San Pedro. The $2.5-million facility can care for up to 1,000 aquatic birds at a time, cleaning soiled feathers or treating them for swallowing oil or inhaling its fumes.

The center is the fifth and final major link in the state’s Oiled Wildlife Care Network, which was created in 1994 in response to the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989 and another spill one year later that blackened the shoreline in Huntington Beach.

Jonna Mazet, director of the network, said the program has served as a model for rescue programs worldwide. The other California facilities are in Humboldt, Santa Cruz, San Diego and San Francisco.

The center in San Pedro would care for birds from Malibu to Huntington Beach. About 150 people, including speakers from various animal rescue foundations, the oil industry and schools, attended the Wednesday morning ribbon-cutting.

“We’re learning better, and more effective, ways to protect the wildlife,” said Bennie Osburn, dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

The UC Davis Wildlife Health Center administers the network with the state Department of Fish and Game, which supports the program from interest earned on its $50-million California Oil Spill Response Trust Fund, created from assessments on the oil industry.

The 12,000-square-foot center has specialized areas for bird intake, holding, washing, drying, isolation and recovery, as well as food preparation, medical care and necropsy.

When a bird is brought into the facility, Mazet explained, rescue workers will examine the bird, take a blood sample, photograph the animal, and collect feather and oil samples for evidence in case the source of the pollution is in doubt. The birds also will be tagged for identification. Seriously injured birds may be euthanized.

Washing oil off birds involves several steps. First the birds are stabilized medically, sometimes tube fed or hydrated up to eight times a day. Workers later wash the birds in a series of tubs filled with Dawn dish detergent and hot, soft water. Hard water could cause the soap to crystallize and destroy the feathers’ ability to repel water.

After a rinse using water under high pressure, the animals are placed in covered pens equipped with pet dryers. Washing and rinsing can take as long as an hour per bird.

Several enclosures were built in which the birds can recover--two aviaries for pelicans and other large species and five smaller pools for wading birds. There also are eight tubs, four of which are heated to encourage quicker healing.

The San Pedro center, operated by the International Bird Rescue Research Center (https://www.ibrrc.org), will train veterinarians, staff and volunteers to perform oil-spill rehabilitation. The group will also use the center to care for birds with non-oil-related injuries.

In partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, the center will provide two classrooms where students from grades K to 12 will be taught about wildlife health and conservation issues. The details of the education programs are still being worked out.

“This will help develop a conscience in youngsters by allowing them to be working with the environment and giving back to the community,” said Mirta McKay, chief of staff in District K of the Los Angeles Unified School District.