Penguins are vulnerable to exposure to oil spills due to their site fidelity, aquatic lifestyle and near-surface foraging habits. Across their range, penguins have been impacted by chronic and acute oil pollution at sea. The following list includes examples of events where impacts to penguins were documented. It is not exhaustive.
Year | Country | Location | Origin | Species | Notes | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1925 | Australia | Port Phillip Bay, Victoria | Unknown | Little | "A number" of oiled penguins ashore and some dead. | [1] |
1934 | New Zealand | Kapiti Island, Manawatu beaches | Unknown | Little | “Many” penguins killed and oiled. | [2] |
1936 | South Africa | Cape Town | Unknown | African | One bird oiled. | [3] |
1940 | New Zealand | Auckland | Unknown | Little | Hundreds of penguins oiled and killed. | [4] |
1945 | Australia | Sydney, New South Wales | Unknown | Little | Single penguin captured and treated. | [5] [6] |
1946 | Australia | Port Phillip Bay, Victoria | Unknown | Little | “Many” penguins killed and oiled. | [7] |
1948 | South Africa | Dyer Island | Esso Wheeling oil spill | African | One third of penguin population, “thousands” oiled and killed. | [8] [9] |
1952 | South Africa | Robben Island, Table Bay | Unknown | African | Over 1200 oiled penguins came ashore. | [8] |
1953 | South Africa | Table Bay | Sliedrecht oil spill | African | Penguins oiled and killed. | [10] |
1954 | Australia | Port Phillip Bay, Victoria | Unknown | Little | 36 penguins oiled. | [11] |
1954 | Australia | Port Phillip Bay, Victoria | Unknown | Little | “large numbers” of dead and oiled birds ashore | [12] |
1968 | South Africa | Cape Point, Western Cape | Esso Essen oil spill | African | Over 1700 penguins impacted by oil. | [8] |
1971 | Australia | Cowes, Victoria | Unknown | Little | 43 oiled, dying penguins found. | [13] |
1971 | Australia | South-eastern South Australia | Unknown | Little | "Hundreds" oiled coming ashore. | [14] |
1971 | South Africa | Cape Aghulas & Dyer Island | SS Wafra oil spill | African | Over 1216 penguins oiled. | [8] |
1972 | South Africa | Dassen Island | Unknown | African | 4000 penguins impacted. | [8] |
1972 | South Africa | Ystervark Point | Oswego Guardian-Texanita collision | African | 500 penguins impacted. | [8] |
1973 | Chile | Guamblin Island | Napier oil spill | Magellanic | Impacts unknown. Penguins in vicinity. | [15] |
1974 | Chile | Strait of Magellan | VLCC Metula oil spill | Magellanic | 40,000 birds oiled. Mostly cormorants and penguins. | [16] |
1974 | Australia | Port Campbell, Victoria | Unknown | Little | "Numbers" of penguins oiled. | [17] |
1974 | South Africa | Struisbaii, Western Cape | Oriental Pioneer (tanker) | African | Several thousand penguins oiled. | [8] |
1978 | Chile | San Vincente Bay | Cabo Tamar oil spill | Humboldt, Magellanic | Impacts unknown, penguins in area. | [18] |
1979 | South Africa | St. Croix Island, Algoa Bay | Unknown | African | Penguins collected to prevent harm. | [19] [20] |
1981 | Argentina | Bahia Bustamante | Unknown | Magellanic | Dead penguins found, but ecological impact not studied. | [15] |
1982 | Argentina | Punta Tombo | Unknown | Magellanic | 500 oiled penguins found. | [15] |
1985 | South Africa | Cape Recife | Kapodistrias oil spill | Over 1180 penguins impacted, 137 killed. | [21] [8] | |
1987 | Australia | Macquarie Island | Nella Dan supply ship wreck | Royal, King, Southern rockhopper, Gentoo | 70 tonnes of light fuel oil lost, ecological damage unknown. | [22] |
1987 | Chile | Punta Davis, Strait of Magellan | Cabo Pilar oil spill | 4900 tonnes crude spilled, penguin impacts unknown. | [23] [24] | |
1988 | Australia | Portland, Victoria | ? | Little | 40% of a small colony oiled and killed (100 birds). | [25] [26] [27] |
1989 | Argentina | Bismarck Strait, Antarctica | Bahia Paraiso oil spill | Several, including Adelie | 20,000-30,000 penguins swam through slick, toll unclear owing to 3 year migration pattern, 300 Adelie penguins known to have been killed. | [28] |
1990 | Australia | Apollo Bay, Cape Otway | Tanker Arthur Phillip | Little | 130 collected alive, only 65 survived. Over 200 dead, estimates up to 700 dead. | [29] [30] |
1991 | Argentina | Chubut Province | Unknown | Magellanic | An estimated 17,000 penguins killed. | [15] |
1991 | Chile | Punta Tombo | Unknown | Magellanic | Estimated 16,000-17,000 dead penguins found. More expected to have died at sea. | [31] [32] |
1994 | South Africa | Dassen Island | Apollo Sea | African | 10,000 penguins collected and cleaned, half of which survived. | [8] |
1995 | Australia | Low Head, Tasmania | MV Iron Baron | Little | An estimated 25,000 penguins died from spill impacts. | [33] |
1995 | Australia | Bass Strait | Unknown | Little | 13 oiled penguins. | [34] |
1995 | South Africa | off Danger Point Lighthouse | Unknown | African | 1332 penguins. | [8] |
1998 | South Africa | Cape Town | Harbor pipeline burst | African | 563 penguins. | [8] |
1998 | United Kingdom | Falkland Islands | Oil exploration spills | Magellanic | Killed several hundred penguins. | [15] |
1999 | Australia | Gore Bay, Sydney, New South Wales | Shell tanker | Little | Several birds oiled, five were captured, cleaned and released. | [35] [36] |
2000 | Australia | Between Summerland Bay and The Nobbies, Phillip Island, Victoria | Unknown | Little | 9 killed, 164 more oiled and treated. | [37] [38] [39] |
2000 | Chile | Cifuncho, Antofagasta | La Moure County (US Navy vessel) | Humboldt | 80-120,000 gallons of diesel lost. Penguin impacts unknown. | [40] |
2000 | South Africa | Robben Island & Dassen Island | MV Treasure oil spill | African | 19000 oiled and an additional 19500 removed. Less than 2000 died. 91% rehabilitation success. | [8] |
2001 | Chile | Moraleda Channel | Jose Fuchs | Magellanic | 150 tonnes crude oil spilled. | [23] |
2001 | Australia | Victoria | Little | 438 penguins treated with a 96% survival rate. | [41] | |
2004 | Chile | Primera Angostura, Magellan Strait | Tanker Berge Nice collision with tugboat | 160 tonnes of oil spilled. Unknown number of penguins impacted. | [23] [15] | |
2005 | Chile | Antofagasta | Eider cargo ship grounded | Humboldt | Penguins impacted. | [15] |
2006 | Argentina | Near Cabo Virgenes, south Patagonia | Unknown | Magellanic | 100 oiled penguins found. An estimated 400 were oiled. | [42] [43] |
2007 | Argentina | Caleta Cordova, Chubut | Oil terminal spill | Magellanic | Over 1500 penguins impacted. | [15] |
2009 | Australia | Kingston / Robe, South Australia | Unknown | Little | 7 penguins oiled and treated. | [44] |
2008 | Uruguay | Montevideo | Tanker Syros oil spill | Magellanic | At least 72 penguins oiled and killed | [45] |
2011 | New Zealand | Tauranga | Rena oil spill | Little | 20,000 seabirds (including penguins) killed by spill and ecosystem impacts. 383 were successfully cleaned and released. | [46] [47] |
2011 | United Kingdom | Tristan da Cunha islands | MS Oliva | Rockhopper | 20,000 penguins oiled, 4,000 relocated to Tristan da Cunha. "Thousands" more died. | [48] [49] |
2015-2016 | Chile | near Cachagua | Humboldt | Penguin colony threatened by two oil spills during this period. | [50] | |
2016 | South Africa | Port of Ngqura | Bunkering | African | 100 oiled penguins were treated. | [51] |
2019 | South Africa | Port of Ngqura | Bunkering | African | Hundreds of penguins were harmed in minor spill. | [51] |
2022 | Peru | Lima | Repsol refinery | Humboldt | Penguins and other seabirds oiled. Some rescued and cleaned. | [52] [53] |
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products and their by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil.
The African penguin, also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh an average of 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb) and are 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall. The species has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask. The body's upper parts are black and sharply delineated from the white underparts, which are spotted and marked with a black band.
The Magellanic penguin is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil and Uruguay, where they are occasionally seen as far north as Espírito Santo. Vagrants have been found in El Salvador, the Avian Island in Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand. It is the most numerous of the Spheniscus banded penguins. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Humboldt penguin, and the Galápagos penguins. The Magellanic penguin was named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who spotted the birds in 1520. The species is listed as being of Least Concern by the IUCN.
Penguin sweaters, also known as penguin jumpers, are sweaters knitted for penguins that have been caught in oil slicks. When an oil spill affects penguins they have in the past been sometimes dressed in knitted sweaters, supposedly to stop them from poisoning themselves by ingesting the oil during preening, and to keep them warm, since the spilled oil destroys their natural oils. The sweaters are removed and discarded as soon as the penguins can be washed.
The Gulf War oil spill, or the "Persian Gulf oil spill", was one of the largest oil spills in history, resulting from the Gulf War in 1991. In January 1991, Iraqi forces allegedly began dumping oil into the Persian Gulf to stop a U.S. coalition-led water landing on their shores. Despite quite high initial estimates, the amount of oil spilled was likely about 4,000,000 US barrels. Within the following months of the spill, most clean-up was targeted at recovering oil, and very little clean-up was done on Saudi Arabia’s highly affected beaches. An initial study in 1993 found that the spill will not have long-term environmental consequences, but many studies since 1991 have concluded the opposite, claiming that the spill is responsible for environmental damage to coastline sediments and marine species and ecosystems. Considered an act of environmental terrorism, the spill was a heated political move that had implications for the larger Gulf War and temporarily damaged Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Punta Tombo is a peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean 110 km (68 mi) south of Trelew in Chubut Province, Argentina, where there is a large colony of Magellanic penguins - the largest such colony in Argentina. It is a short distance north of Camarones.
MV Braer was an oil tanker which ran aground during a storm off Shetland, Scotland, in January 1993, and nearly a week later broke up during the most intense extratropical cyclone on record for the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Braer Storm of January 1993.
MV Iron Baron was a 37,557 dwt bulk carrier built in 1985. It was chartered by BHP Shipping in 1990.
International Bird Rescue is a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates injured aquatic birds, most notably seabirds affected by oil spills. Founded by Alice Berkner and members of the Ecology Action, including veterinarian James Michael Harris, D.V.M. in 1971 and based in Cordelia, California, the group has developed scientifically-based bird rehabilitation techniques and has led oiled wildlife rescue efforts in more than 200 oil spills worldwide, including the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where International Bird Rescue co-managed oiled bird rehabilitation efforts in four states with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research.
MV Jupiter was a Greek-registered cruise ship that sank on 21 October 1988, within 40 minutes of leaving the Greek port of Piraeus. On board were 391 British schoolchildren and 84 adults on a study cruise and 110 crew. The disaster claimed the lives of one pupil, one teacher and two Greek crew members.
The MV Treasure oil spill occurred on 23 June 2000, when the ship sank six miles off the coast of South Africa while transporting iron ore from China to Brazil. The ship was carrying an estimated 1,300 tons of fuel oil, some of which spilled into the ocean, threatening the African penguin populations living on nearby islands. Cleanup efforts began promptly after the incident with particular attention being paid to salvaging the penguin communities.
The MT Castillo de Bellver oil spill began on 6 August 1983, when the Spanish tanker caught on fire off Saldanha Bay, approximately 70 miles northwest of Cape Town, South Africa. It was carrying 250,000 tonnes of light crude oil, and was traveling through an environmentally sensitive area known for its seabird rookeries and important commercial fishing grounds. The burning vessel was abandoned and broke apart after drifting offshore. Three crew were lost. The stern capsized and sunk and the bow was sunk using explosives. A total of 145,000-170,000 tonnes of oil entered the sea. Onshore impacts were considered negligible as the slick traveled seaward. The only visible impact was the oiling of 1,500 gannets that were on a nearby island.
MV Apollo Sea was a Chinese-owned, Panamanian-registered bulk carrier which sank near Cape Town in June 1994. Leaking oil from the sunken vessel caused a major environmental disaster which resulted in the death of thousands of seabirds, including endangered African penguins. All of the ship's 36 crew members died in the sinking, which apparently occurred so quickly that no general distress signals were given. The first public indication that the ship had sunk was the appearance of penguins covered with oil. The source of the slick was initially believed to be the wreck of the supertanker Castillo de Bellver, but this theory was disproven and the slick was instead traced to the wreck of the Apollo Sea. The vessel had been loaded with 2,400 tonnes of heavy fuel oil when she left port four hours before she sank. Later it was revealed that an automated distress signal had been sent directly to the owners via satellite from the approximate location of the oil spill, and the owners eventually admitted the loss of the vessel and accepted responsibility for the spill.
The Australian little penguin, also called the fairy penguin, little blue penguin, or blue penguin, is a species of penguin from Australia and the Otago region of New Zealand. The species was described as Spheniscusnovaehollandiae in 1826. It was later reclassified as Eudyptulaminornovaehollandiae, a subspecies of the little penguin. After a 2016 study, Eudyptula novaehollandiae was again recognised as a distinct species.
Bioremediation of petroleum contaminated environments is a process in which the biological pathways within microorganisms or plants are used to degrade or sequester toxic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and other volatile organic compounds found within fossil fuels. Oil spills happen frequently at varying degrees along with all aspects of the petroleum supply chain, presenting a complex array of issues for both environmental and public health. While traditional cleanup methods such as chemical or manual containment and removal often result in rapid results, bioremediation is less labor-intensive, expensive, and averts chemical or mechanical damage. The efficiency and effectiveness of bioremediation efforts are based on maintaining ideal conditions, such as pH, RED-OX potential, temperature, moisture, oxygen abundance, nutrient availability, soil composition, and pollutant structure, for the desired organism or biological pathway to facilitate reactions. Three main types of bioremediation used for petroleum spills include microbial remediation, phytoremediation, and mycoremediation. Bioremediation has been implemented in various notable oil spills including the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident where the application of fertilizer on affected shoreline increased rates of biodegradation.
A hydraulic tanker is an oil tanker designed to use water as an incompressible fluid for loading and unloading petroleum cargo. Each cargo tank is kept full at all times so oil floating on water will be pressed against the top of the tank. A cargo tank initially filled with water is loaded with the desired quantity of oil by pumping oil into the top of the tank displacing water which overflows through an opening at the bottom of the tank. The cargo tank is unloaded by removing oil from the top of the tank as water is admitted at the bottom.
The Mobil Nigeria oil spill occurred in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, on 12 January 1998, when a pipeline in Mobil's Idoho platform burst underwater, sending 40,000 barrels of oil spilling into the ocean. Drifting westwards, the oil covered 850 km of Nigerian coastline, contaminating waters and negatively impacting fishing in the region. Only 1% of the spill reached the shore, largely due to favorable weather conditions as well as Mobil's response to the situation. In 2016, a Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria ruled against Mobil for US$32 million in damages.
Pamela Chelgren-Koterba is a former officer of the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Commissioned Officer Corps. The daughter of a career naval officer, she was the first woman to receive a commission in the history of the NOAA Corps and, in 1977, was appointed to what was then the highest shipboard posting ever held by a woman in the Uniformed Services of the United States.
The Amazon Venture oil spill occurred at the port of Savannah on the Savannah River in the U.S. state of Georgia. The spill, which occurred from December 4 to 6, 1986, was caused by three defective valves in the piping system of the oil tanker MV Amazon Venture, which leaked approximately 500,000 US gallons of fuel oil into the river.
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