‘How to squeeze a duck’ in the event of an oil spill

Port Hedland and Karratha’s major industry and environmental organisations recently underwent training to respond to oiled wildlife incidents.

Run by the Department of Environment and Conservation, 42 people were trained in managing the physical impact of an oil spill including how to collect, transport, clean and care for oiled wildlife.

With five ports in the Pilbara region, including Australia’s two largest bulk export ports in Port Hedland and Dampier, in addition to offshore oil and gas facilities, the region’s wildlife is particularly at risk.

Port Hedland environmental advisor, Laura Tucker and HSE representative, Evonne Valle attended the two-day course in Port Hedland.

Laura said she really got a lot out of the training. “We spent a lot of time learning how to set up a response centre and understanding the many different cleaning processes that you have to go through, particularly for birds,” she said.

The Pilbara’s 2360km of coastline and more than 300 islands are home to many species of birds as well as nesting hawksbill, loggerhead, flat-back and green turtles. 

“It was also a great opportunity to build relationships with people from diverse areas of the community who would all need to come together very quickly in the case of an oil spill emergency.”

Laura said the Pilbara Wildlife Carers Association attended the course and are well known to Dampier Salt in Port Hedland as they come to our site to collect injured animals.