For those who have not seen this video yet, it’s worth posting again. (And I finally seem to have figured out the code issue, so hopefully the screen shot will remain visible this time around.) Andrew Evans, a National Geographic Traveler Digital Explorer, was onboard the MV Explorer when the MS Oliva hit Nightingale Island in the Tristan da Cunha island group. The Explorer arrived one week after the Oliva broke apart and sank, spilling it’s fuel oil and cargo of soya beans. It had been Andrew’s lifelong dream to visit Tristan da Cunha. While there, he took this short video of oil-soaked Rockhopper penguins and coughing baby fur seals – it is heart wrenching stuff. This is not the Tristan he had hoped to see.
To read Andrew’s blog posts about his travels, click here. (This will bring you to one of his posts about Nightingale Island.)
There are just 100 islanders and a handful of penguin rescue experts carrying out the massive rescue operation currently underway at Tristan da Cunha. They currently have 3,600 oiled penguins under their care, and another 1,500 clean penguins captured that they plan to transport away from the oil-contaminated waters. But they need financial assistance to keep this critical rescue effort going. You can help save these endangered penguins by donating to one of the following groups. (Your gift is tax-deductible and will be transferred directly to the islands.)
Please give generously!! Thank you!
The Ocean Doctor (Dr. David Guggenheim) via The Ocean Foundation: http://oceandoctor.org/ (Click on the green ‘donate now’ button in the right-hand column.) Or go to this link: Nightingale Island Disaster Penguin and Seabird Rescue Fund
RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds): Nightingale Island Emergency Appeal
Foundation for Antarctic Research (via Crowdrise): Catastrophic Oil Spill – Tristan
Dyan deNapoli (The Penguin Lady) – author of The Great Penguin Rescue
The Penguin Lady Blog 