It was a fairly standard month at WBR with a total of 37 rescues and 3 releases.
I attended rescues for three pelicans, eight ibis and eleven swans, plus another fifteen birds of various species.
As always our old friends, fishing line and hooks, featured as a primary cause of injury. Most rescued birds were saved, but not all. One of the saddest cases was a pelican with a severely torn pouch. The tear was 200mm long and near the front of the bill. This meant she could still feed, but only just. It looked like a typical fish hook injury where a fisher had pulled hard on the line and torn the birds pouch. Either that or she had taken a bait
on a set line and torn herself trying to get free. It was fatal because the flesh had torn directly fr
om the bone meaning it could not be grafted back on. We also lost a lovely old swan. He had a fish hook in his calf, but that wasn’t the biggest problem. At some point he’d broken his middle toe. To compensate he’d moved weight back on his ankle which had begun to degenerate under the load. He was lame and therefore could not be released. Finally, we lost Lily the ibis. She had swallowed a hook but appeared to be making good progress after major surgery to remove the hook from her crop. Her outward appearance was good, and Lily was set for release, but while removing her stitches the wound came apart and infection was evident.
Now for some good news!!
Quite a few birds were catch, clean and immediate release. This is nearly always the case with line entangled ibis. Of the hospitalised cases Hilton, the peli with the 400mm suspected knife slash to his pouch, was released, healed and well. That same morning I released Belinda, a pelican with the worst leg and foot swellings I’ve ever seen, caused by a fishing line entanglement. The hospital did an outstanding job saving her. A week later I released Sweetie, after that nasty fish hook in her ankle. Coda, a big swan who’d lost a toenail is doing well; as is Blaze, the osprey with the draggy wing, from Hope Island.
Yesterday I caught a giant petrel at Narrow Neck, near Main Beach. 
He was exhausted and would have died if left in the ocean. What a huge bird. He was so big he wouldn’t fit in my mid-sized capture box and had to go into the peli box. I rushed him to SeaWorld were vet Dave will look at him this morning. Baring anything sinister it should be just a matter of feeding Cornelius up for a week or two and then setting him on his way. Always a huge privilege to handle and help a big ocean traveller. Thankfully we only get one or two petrels a year.
Finally, I have initiated proceedings with QLD Fisheries to address three harmful fishing practices. Namely that …
- Casting out a fishing line and leaving it unattended is a major cause of hooking and entanglement of waterbirds in Gold Coast canals.
- Carelessly dropping offcuts of fishing line on the ground (instead of putting them in the bin) often results in entanglement of birds walking through that line.
- Fishers need to be aware that rescue services are available if they hook a bird. They should call for help immediately, rather than cutting the bird free, which unfortunately is what most do.
So far the response from Fisheries has been positive. It is their intention to begin a media campaign to alert fishers. However, this is not enough. I intend to pursue a change of law so that fishers can no longer put out a line and then walk away leaving it to hook, maim and kill resident waterbirds.
Thank you to my generous donors and members of the committee for your wonderful support. You make it all possible!!
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Rowley