/ 12 May 2006

Oil-covered penguins found in Argentina

Wildlife wardens and volunteers are working round the clock cleaning hundreds of oil-covered penguins found over the past days in a remote southern nature reserve, officials said.

At least 70 of the penguins have died, said Jorge Perancho, the coordinator of protected areas of the far southern province of Santa Cruz.

Another 120 penguins are at a rescue centre being rehydrated and cleaned, ”while at the beach there are another 250 to 300 that need to be captured and washed down”, Perancho said on Thursday.

The penguins were found along a nine kilometre stretch of coast of the Cabo Virgenes provincial reserve affected by an oil slick, Perancho said.

The Patagonian reserve is located about 2 200km south-west of Buenos Aires.

A penguin covered in oil ”loses control of its body temperature, cannot survive the low temperatures of the ocean and stays on the coast”, Perancho said.

Unable to seek food, over time the penguin ”loses weight, dehydrates, and at a certain point dies”, Perancho said.

The soiled penguins must first be rehydrated, then given vitamins and fed slowly. The wash begins only after the penguin has recovered its normal weight.

”These small animals are easily stressed, so the wash has to be quick and precise,” Perancho said.

Coast Guard officials said they still do not know the origin of the oil slick, but are investigating whether it comes from one of the six Argentine offshore oil platforms in the area, or from one of the 35 platforms on the nearby Chilean side of the border, government officials in Buenos Aires said. – Sapa-AFP