By Doğa Derneği, 19 Jan 2017
A major oil spill is affecting
coastal areas in western Turkey. Doğa
Derneği (Birdlife Turkey) has deployed an emergency team of volunteers
to help oiled wildlife.
In the clear waters of Izmit Bay
in western Turkey, a major oil spill is putting human health and marine
biodiversity at risk. The spill occurred last Friday near the rich Key Biodiversity
Area of Kocaeli Tepeleri, affecting bird species such as European
Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Great
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo and Common
Coot Fulica atra.
Over the weekend, locals rang the
alarm as oiled birds and deep-sea marine life started washing up ashore. As
soon as the leakage began, Doğa’s Local Conservation Groups began work to
rescue the affected wildlife, transferring them to the nearest wildlife rescue
and rehabilitation centre, Faruk Yalçın Zoo.
Itri Levent
Erkol, Conservation Manager at Doğa Derneği, visited the coast and
surrounding marine areas as soon as they were informed of the disaster. “Even
if officially the cleaning and rescue work is now considered finished, we are
still finding dead bodies of cormorants and coots”, says Erkol. “We are even
finding oiled birds alive and citizens are having to take them home to clean
them up, which is not recommended.”
Zoo officials informed Erkol that
17 of 58 rescued birds died for different reasons related to the oil spill, but
the conditions of the survivors are improving.
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