Bay Harbour: February 26, 2020

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PAGE 8 Wednesday February 26 2020 BAY HARBOUR Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Your Local Views Oil spills always a concern Environment Canterbury deputy harbourmaster Guy Harris writes about marine oil spills and how and why the appropriate responses are determined in light of a recent incident near Akaroa Heads THANKFULLY, marine oil spills are rare in Canterbury. Environment Canterbury works proactively with operators to help ensure they do not have oil spills, and that appropriate response equipment is available should a spill occur. However, when an oil spill does happen, we have powers under the Maritime Transport Act 1994 to intervene. When determining the appropriate response, ECan maintains a number of oil spill response equipment sites around the region, at Lyttelton and Akaroa, as well as Christchurch, Kaikōura and Timaru. Our equipment and team of trained responders allow for a swift response to a spill. Gear and training of responders is funded through the Oil Pollution Fund, managed by Maritime New Zealand and created by a levy on shipping. On receiving a report of a spill, we must first verify the report and identify a few facts, including: · What type of oil is it? · Where is the oil? · How much oil is there? · Where is it moving to? · What sensitive sites are nearby? Armed with this information, a specific response can be mounted. We have a comprehensive response plan to draw on, which provides guidance on how to respond and allows for local sensitivities and resources to be identified and protected. An important part of any response is the notification and involvement of key stakeholders. Every spill response will have differing actions and complexities, but the aim is always to help the environment to recover. As such, actions taken should have an overall net environmental benefit – ie: the response should leave the environment in a better condition than if the oil were left there. A recent oil pollution incident occurred near Akaroa heads. A recreational boat hit a rock and sunk quickly; thankfully, everybody was retrieved safely. However, our incident response team received a call about a possible oil slick in the area. Using reports from local tour boat operators and the harbourmaster’s office navigation cameras, we ascertained that the slick was a very thin sheen of diesel, most likely from the sunken boat. The most effective and prompt manner of removing the remaining oil was to salvage the vessel. The vessel’s insurer engaged a marine contractor to recover the vessel and contain the oil onboard. The response included assessments of the local wildlife and sensitive sites, access to the area, and response options that may be utilised. The contractor checked the area; apart from a small bit of flotsam, which was collected, no sign of the boat was found – even using sonar. • WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP: If you do discover an oil spill, whether on the sea or land, please phone the incident response team on our 24-hour hotline, 0800 765 588 – we are ready and waiting. No more diesel has been spotted since, in spite of the area being checked multiple times by local operators on our behalf. It is likely that the thin sheen of diesel would have been broken up by the swell and then would have evaporated quickly in the hot weather. To give an idea of how little diesel it takes to make a badlooking spill, around 100ml – less than half a cup – of diesel can disperse to create a rainbow sheen (which is about 3-4 microns thick) the size of a tennis court. Oil spill response is about working out the most effective methods of response that causes the least environmental harm. On a final note, recently another call came into the incident response team regarding a thin rainbow sheen in Akaroa, this time around the wharf in French Bay. Contractors have tested the pipework and tanks associated with the diesel bowser on the wharf, but nothing has been found to be wrong and investigations will continue. As an aside, it is worth noting that the wharf is currently in the early planning stage of a Christchurch City Council rebuild project and the fuel supply infrastructure is being discussed as part of this. BIRDS OF THE ESTUARY Tanya Jenkins is the manager of the Avon- Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust, a non-profit organisation formed in 2002 to protect one of New Zealand’s most important coastal wetlands. Each week she introduces a new bird found in the estuary. Her column aims to raise the understanding of the values and uniqueness of the area. Don’t let the clever pukeko fool you THE PUKEKO or swamp hen are a well-known, heavyweight native resident – with male birds weighing up to 1.1kg. Some people may call them “dumb birds” for getting on roads to become roadkill, however, pukeko are actually extremely clever and complex birds. Don’t be fooled by the pukeko running around clumsily along the road as they can swim, run and fly extremely well. Pukeko are commonly seen on regularly mown roadsides as they love the fresh new grass shoots and growth there. That, paired with their need to eat grit off the road, (this aids them in their digestion of tough to digest foods like grass) puts them at high risk of being run down by motorists. Pukeko live in small community groups and are very protective of their territory, hence why you can hear their loud shrieking when they defend their patch. Females in the group will lay as many as 19 eggs in one shared nest, which is incubated by the males. When chicks hatch, the entire group, whether they are breeding and non breeding birds, will feed the chicks for about three months. Now that’s clever. How can we help these birds thrive? Keep dogs on the lead when walking near waterways as to not disturb them while they are nesting, feeding or resting. Drive carefully along roads where you see pukeko regularly and slow down. PROTECTIVE: Pukeko are misinterpreted as being “dumb birds,” however, they are quite complex and clever. PHOTO: BRIAN BETTS
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Bay Harbour: February 26, 2020

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