Techniques for hazing and deterring birds during an oil spill.

Preventing wildlife from becoming oiled is the priority in an oiled wildlife response. This is achieved through diverting spilled oil away from wildlife, or hazing, deterring, or excluding wildlife from oiled areas. This paper undertakes an international review of techniques deployed for hazing and deterring birds, the taxa most affected, during oil spills.

Lessons Learned for Pre-Emptive Capture Management as a Tool for Wildlife Conservation during Oil Spills and Eradication Events.

Pre-emptive capture or translocation of wildlife during oil spills and prior to pest eradication poison applications are very specific conservation goals within the field of conservation translocation/reintroduction. Protection of wildlife from contamination events occurs during either planned operations such as pest eradication poison applications, or unplanned events such as pollution or oil spills. The aim in both incidences is to protect at-risk wildlife species, ensuring the survival of a threatened regional population or entire species, by excluding wildlife from entering affected areas and therefore preventing impacts on the protected wildlife.

Does size matter? The direct economic costs associated with the MV Rena oil spill.

The MV Rena ran aground on the 5 October 2011 off the coast of New Zealand, releasing over 350 t of heavy fuel oil. The environmental effects of this spill are well documented, however, little research has been undertaken regarding the short term economic losses observed because of the spill. By looking at pre- and post-spill trends for commercial fisheries and tourism in the area, as well as the clean-up and restoration costs, the direct costs associated with the MV Rena oil spill can be estimated.

Oiled wildlife response planning for subantarctic islands: A review for New Zealand subantarctics.

The world's subantarctic islands are rare, ecologically distinct ecosystems with geographical and climahemistic challenges for undertaking emergency response. Their remoteness has somewhat protected them and their flora and fauna from environmental pollution threats and impacts. However, with increasing tourism, fishing, oil and gas exploration and shipping routes, the risk of accidents and petroleum spills has exponentially increased.

What Helps Oiled Wildlife Responders Care for Animals While Minimizing Stress and Compassion Fatigue.

Oil spills are environmental disasters and their long-term impact is not just a concern for the environment and economy, but also for first responders' health and wellbeing. Wildlife, such as aquatic birds and certain marine mammals, are highly susceptible to physiological effects of oiling, and oiled wildlife responders are crucial to provide measures for their survival. The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of oiled wildlife responders and what factors and conditions have helped or inhibited the responders to care-affected wildlife.

Phylogeography, Population Structure, and Species Delimitation in Rockhopper Penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome and Eudyptes moseleyi).

Rockhopper penguins are delimited as 2 species, the northern rockhopper (Eudyptes moseleyi) and the southern rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome), with the latter comprising 2 subspecies, the western rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome) and the eastern rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome filholi). We conducted a phylogeographic study using multilocus data from 114 individuals sampled across 12 colonies from the entire range of the northern/southern rockhopper complex to assess potential population structure, gene flow, and species limits. Bayesian and likelihood methods with nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, including model testing and heuristic approaches, support E.

Post-release breeding success of oil-rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated little blue penguins, Eudyptula minor, following the M/V Rena oil spill, New Zealand.

During the 2011 M/V Rena oil spill in Tauranga, New Zealand, 383 little blue penguins (LBP, Eudyptula minor) were oiled, rescued and rehabilitated, with 90.6% surviving to be released back to the wild. We monitored the post-release breeding success of rehabilitated LBPs to assess the effectiveness of the rehabilitation process.

Species prioritization index for oiled wildlife response planning in New Zealand.

Birds are extremely vulnerable to the effects of oil pollution. For wildlife, prevention of oiling is the best response option, however if not feasible, the fastest response gives the highest chance of survival. Therefore, the development of an oiled wildlife preparedness plan based on analysis of areas at risk, vulnerable species and potential response options is critical.

Efficacy of seawater for washing oiled birds during an oil spill response.

Aquatic pollution events can be detrimental to the survival of wildlife, particularly birds. To decontaminate affected birds, large quantities of fresh water are required. A recent study using seabird feathers, demonstrated that seawater wash/rinse can effectively remove oil from feathers.

Marine mammal population decline linked to obscured by-catch.

Declines of marine megafauna due to fisheries by-catch are thought to be mitigated by exclusion devices that release nontarget species. However, exclusion devices may instead conceal negative effects associated with by-catch caused by fisheries (i.e.

Genetic Evidence of a Population Bottleneck and Inbreeding in the Endangered New Zealand Sea Lion, Phocarctos hookeri.

The New Zealand sea lion (NZSL) is of high conservation concern due to its limited distribution and its declining population size. Historically, it occupied most of coastal New Zealand, but is now restricted to a few coastal sites in southern mainland New Zealand and the sub-Antarctic Islands. NZSLs have experienced a recent reduction in population size due to sealing in the 1900s, which is expected to have resulted in increased inbreeding and a loss of genetic variation, potentially reducing the evolutionary capacity of the species and negatively impacting on its long-term prospects for survival.

Examining the role of components of Slc11a1 (Nramp1) in the susceptibility of New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) to disease.

The New Zealand sea lion (NZSL, Phocarctos hookeri) is a Threatened marine mammal with a restricted distribution and a small, declining, population size. The species is susceptible to bacterial pathogens, having suffered three mass mortality events since 1998. Understanding the genetic factors linked to this susceptibility is important in mitigating population decline.

Heterozygote advantage at MHC DRB may influence response to infectious disease epizootics.

The effect of MHC polymorphism on individual fitness variation in the wild remains equivocal; however, much evidence suggests that heterozygote advantage is a major determinant. To understand the contribution of MHC polymorphism to individual disease resistance or susceptibility in natural populations, we investigated two MHC class II B loci, DQB and DRB, in the New Zealand sea lion (NZSL, Phocarctos hookeri). The NZSL is a threatened species which is unusually susceptible to death by bacterial infection at an early age; it has suffered three bacterial induced epizootics resulting in high mortality levels of young pups since 1997.

Extinction and recolonization of coastal megafauna following human arrival in New Zealand.

Extinctions can dramatically reshape biological communities. As a case in point, ancient mass extinction events apparently facilitated dramatic new evolutionary radiations of surviving lineages. However, scientists have yet to fully understand the consequences of more recent biological upheaval, such as the megafaunal extinctions that occurred globally over the past 50 kyr.

Foraging behaviour of juvenile female New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) in contrasting environments.

Foragers can show adaptive responses to changes within their environment through morphological and behavioural plasticity. We investigated the plasticity in body size, at sea movements and diving behaviour of juvenile female New Zealand (NZ) sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) in two contrasting environments. The NZ sea lion is one of the rarest pinnipeds in the world.

Sexual segregation in juvenile New Zealand sea lion foraging ranges: implications for intraspecific competition, population dynamics and conservation.

Sexual segregation (sex differences in spatial organisation and resource use) is observed in a large range of taxa. Investigating causes for sexual segregation is vital for understanding population dynamics and has important conservation implications, as sex differences in foraging ecology may affect vulnerability to area-specific human activities. Although behavioural ecologists have proposed numerous hypotheses for this phenomenon, the underlying causes of sexual segregation are poorly understood.

Serologic evaluation of New Zealand sea lions for exposure to Brucella and Leptospira spp.

A serologic survey of anti-Brucella and antileptospiral antibodies was conducted on 147 adult, female New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri). Most sea lions (n=138) were sampled at Sandy Bay, Enderby Island, Auckland Islands (50°30'S, 166°17'E), January 2000-March 2005. Nine were sampled at Otago, New Zealand (46°0'S, 170°40'E); four in April 2008 and five in March 2009.

Development of cerebral lateralisation for recognition of emotions in chimeric faces in children aged 5 to 11.

In contrast to research into the development of language laterality, there has been relatively little research into the development of lateralisation of emotional processing. If language lateralisation begins in childhood and is complete by puberty (Lenneberg, 1967) it seems reasonable that the lateralisation of the perception of emotions might also occur during this period. In this study a split field chimeric faces test using the six universal facial expressions proposed by Ekman and Friesen (1971), an emotion in the eyes test, and a situational cartoon test were administered to three groups of children aged 5/6, 7/8, and 10/11.