PETROLEUM POLLUTION AND PENGUINS: Marine Conservation Tools to Reduce the Problem.

PABLO GARCIA BORBOROGLU; P. DEE BOERSMA; LAURA REYES; ELIZABETH SKEWGAR

Marine Pollution: New Research

Nova Science Publishers Inc.

Lugar: New York; Año: 2008; p. 339 - 356

Petroleum is one of the most common toxic substances released into the marine environment. Accidental pollution is spectacular and receives a lot of attention when the negative effect to the environment is dramatic. The impact of chronic petroleum pollution or small oil spills is often not sensational and hence has received less attention than it deserves. Seabirds are one of the most vulnerable groups of marine animals affected by petroleum. Penguins are particularly vulnerable to petroleum spills because they swim low in the water, must surface regularly to breathe, do not fly, are less able to detect and avoid petroleum than other seabirds, and often encounter discharges of petroleum when they are at sea. Mortality of penguins from petroleum is a long term and large scale problem. Petroleum pollution has killed thousands of penguins in Africa, Australia and New Zealand, South America, and even Antarctica. The Southwest Atlantic, although not well known for petroleum pollution problems, is a chronic source of petroleum discharge.  Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) are killed during their winter migration between Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, when they encounter petroleum (Boersma et al. 1990, Gandini et al. 1994). To avoid severe negative impacts of petroleum on penguins and other marine species, planning and implementation strategies should concentrate on minimizing risk associated with petroleum discharge and development. New legislation combined with effective enforcement could reduce petroleum spills, minimize operational discharges from ships and from land-based sources and thereby, decrease the release of petroleum into the ocean.  Reduced exposure and vulnerability to petroleum can be achieved through marine conservation tools, such as Marine Protected Areas or Marine Spatial Planning to minimize risk to wildlife. Conservation of marine biodiversity is an important value, but can protection be achieved with minimal impact on economic activity? This paper reviews how petroleum pollution has impacted populations of penguins. In addition, it suggests how marine management strategies could mitigate petroleum pollution harm to penguins, with particular emphasis on the Magellanic penguin populations in the SW Atlantic.