25 May, 2018 8:34am
Science Reporter, NZ Herald
Conservationists have been left
saddened and angry over the deaths of seabirds that landed on board a cruise
ship and were put in boxes instead of being released.
They say action is needed to
address what could be a "huge problem" - young seabirds being lured
from their habitats by the lights of vessels plying our coasts at night.
Sixty-four Buller's shearwaters
and four flesh-footed shearwaters landed onboard the Pacific Jewel as it
approached Auckland on Tuesday, and the ship's environmental officer kept the
birds inside cardboard boxes.
Once in port, Ministry of Primary
Industries quarantine officers alerted the Department of Conservation, but by
that point many of the birds had died.
The Herald understands
20 were already dead when DoC staff arrived, due to fighting and the stress of
being in close confines with other birds.
Officials repackaged the
surviving birds into better containers and offloaded them for transport to
Green Bay Bird Rescue Centre, where they were tube-fed and kept temporarily.
Thirty-seven Buller's shearwaters
were released at night by DoC, Green Bay Bird Rescue and SPCA staff from Castor
Bay cliffs facing the sea, away from lights and main roads.
DoC Auckland biodiversity
supervisor Dr Art Polkanov said all of the birds successfully flew away, while
the bodies of those that hadn't survived were taken by Auckland Museum staff to
support ongoing research.
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