Could an oil leak result in dolphins’ euthanasia? – Sutherland Northern Times

Published: 28/04/2017 12:30 - Updated: 27/04/2017 11:37

John Finnie - results could be 'horrific'.

DOLPHINS and whales may have to be euthanised if an oil spill occurs during ship to ship transfers in the Cromarty Firth.

Critics of the plan to move more than eight million tonnes of crude oil in the Cromarty and Moray firths have slammed the Cromarty Firth Port Authority (CFPA) for saying animals may have to be killed if an accident happens.

The authoritys contingency plan for an oil spill states that euthanasia may be the most humane action but campaigners have branded it appalling and are preparing to ask the Scottish Government for help in blocking the transfers.

Members of Cromarty Rising will make a trip to Edinburgh next week to attend a debate on the controversial plans, to be hosted by Highlands and Islands MSP John Finnie.

They hope this will be another opportunity to explain the risks to wildlife, as well as the damage it could to the areas tourism industry.

Duncan Bowers will be among the Cromarty Rising campaigners attending the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.

He said: We are not opposed to development but they already have a licence for a jetty at Nigg.

They should carry out ship to ship transfers there and the Scottish Government can use development funds to help them do what they need to do. That is much more sustainable than making money at the expense of tourism and dolphins.

We all think euthanasia is an appalling statement to make and I dont think they should even be allowed to include that in their contingency plans.

If there are 195 bottlenose dolphins and a spill takes place they wont all be stranded but a lot could be. How do you even begin to try to euthanise all of them? It has been badly researched and poorly planned.

We hope the Scottish Government will make an intervention before it is too late.

It will be for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to decide if the port is allowed to go ahead and there will be no vote in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday but it is hoped it will raise awareness of the issue.

Mr Bowers hopes when a revised application is submitted by CFPA the Scottish Government will refuse to grant a mitigation licence, allowing for the disruption of European protected species.

Green MSP John Finnie said if animals get stranded due to a spill they may need to be euthanised on the beach, which would be horrific for them and those living in the area.

He said: Were any of these marine mammals to become stranded as a result of an oil spill their internal organs would quickly become compromised and there would be a requirement to provide lethal injections to these beautiful animals as they lay on the shoreline.

I believe this is yet another horrific event that local communities could be faced with if ship to ship oil transfers are given the go ahead and once again call on the Scottish and UK governments and their agencies to put a stop to these proposals immediately.

The CFPA contingency plan states that a variety of measures can be taken to protect cetaceans (whales and dolphins) from spilt oil, including administering first aid and releasing stranded animals once the water is safe.

In other cases euthanasia may be the most humane action, it states.

But this sparked concerns with Margaux Dodds, director and co-founder of Marine Connections, a Cawdor-based charity working for the protection and conservation of dolphins and whales.

Ms Dodds pointed out it may be difficult to track down the experienced personnel and medication required if a lot of animals were stranded.

In an area like the Moray Firth, where any oil spill could result in mass stranding, given the high concentration of cetaceans in the area, this would be a very large undertaking indeed, she said.

Any rescue effort will require highly experienced personnel to treat the animals, assist with crowd control, transportation of animals, staffing at stranding and release locations and post mortem examination costs.

It takes a reasonable amount of time and staffing effort to re-float a cetacean. Some may have become compromised due to pressure on their internal organs from being out of the water, lying on the shoreline. As they would already be highly stressed, we question how the animals would be transported to the release site without further anxiety.

We have to consider the serious possibility that some of these protected animals will have to be euthanised after a period of time. Who would be responsible or the secure storage [of drugs] until required, monitoring of storage conditions and tracking of expiry dates?

A reasonable licensed party will be required to bear the cost of purchasing and storing these drugs.

The contingency plan is required by law due to the port authoritys work with oil and fumes. A previous later this year.

A CFPA spokeswoman said: Every power driven vessel entering the Cromarty Firth carries fuel or oil, which most use for propulsion.

As a result, the ports regulators (MCA) demand that we have an oil spill contingency plan in place for managing any release of oil by vessels into the waters of the Cromarty Firth. This document has been completed in accordance with the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Co-operation Convention) regulations 1998 and forms part of the ports major incident plan.

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Friday 28 Apr 2017 8:38 PM

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Could an oil leak result in dolphins' euthanasia? - Sutherland Northern Times