Biologist Jeremy Gray is among those volunteering at the Oiled Wildlife Response Centre in Tauranga, New Zealand, after the Rena oil spill. He explains how to clean rescued wildlife.
I got put on the wildlife team as I am a biologist in real life. I'm "nurse" to the vets here - handing them equipment, cleaning stuff and such like - while they wash the birds. On Wednesday there were four vets and two nurses, and hopefully more tomorrow.
The response centre has been set up at a wastewater treatment plant that can handle up to 500 birds.
First the penguins must be warm and happy - most are kept overnight before washing, as it is very stressful and they need to get their strength up.
Then the birds are brought into the cleaning room and put on the table.
Normally detergent is used to clean wildlife caught in an oil slick. But the fuel oil that's spilled from the Rena is really thick, so we first rinse the birds with canola oil, sold as cooking oil at the supermarket. This helps soften the fuel oil and get off the really thick stuff.
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