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Research Papers

By Adam Grogan |

The members of the GOWRS Network have been involved in wildlife responses for many years and this has driven them to better understand the impact of oil and other pollutants on wild animals and how such impacts can be mitigated.

The RSPCA was one of the first organisations to commission such research, by collaborating with Newcastle University in the 1970s on work to investigate how oiled birds could be cleaned, following the Torrey Canyon disaster in 1967. The RSPCA has since undertaken a number of studies on oiled birds, and rehabilitated wildlife in general. Some of these papers are listed below and here is a full list of the papers on wildlife published by them.

Massey University has also undertaken a great deal of research into the impacts of oil on wildlife, especially after the Rena disaster in 2011. Members of the GOWRS Network have also collaborated together to produce a number of other papers on different aspects of oiled wildlife preparedness and response and many of these papers are listed below.

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network is managed by the University of California, Davis and so has a strong research pedigree, investigating the impacts of oil and other pollutants on wildlife; how they can be treated; and their survival after being rehabilitated and released. A list of OWCN publications is available here, including a paper on why the rehabilitation of oiled wildlife is so important.

International Bird Rescue’s in-house research program primarily focuses on improving oiled wildlife care and response as well as the general rehabilitation of aquatic birds. This is achieved through the assessment of new techniques and protocols, including those geared towards management of large numbers of animals simultaneously, clinical trials, pathology of clinical cases and post-release studies.

Below is a list of many papers produced by members of the GOWRS Network

  • Egan AL; Chilvers BL; Cassells S 2024 Expected direct costs of an oil spill in a UNESCO World Heritage area in New Zealand. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8489.12569
  • Chilvers BL; Ruoppolo V 2023 Planning for an offshore oiled wildlife response: case studies from New Zealand and Brazil. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 30: 54351-54361 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-023-26440-4
  • Chilvers BL; McClelland PJ 2023 Lessons Learned for Pre-Emptive Capture Management as a Tool for Wildlife Conservation during Oil Spills and Eradication Events. Animals 13: 833 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/5/833
  • Egan AL; Rolfe J; Cassells S; Chilvers BL 2023 Recreational impacts of an oil spill in a world heritage area: a combined travel cost\ and contingent behaviour method approach Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, 1-17 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21606544.2023.2248951
  • Egan AL; Rolfe J; Cassells S; Chilvers BL 2023 Potential changes in the recreational use value for Coastal Bay of Plenty, New Zealand due to oil spills: A combined approach of the travel cost and contingent behaviour methods. Ocean & Coastal Management 228, 106306 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106306
  • Chilvers BL; Morgan KJ; White BJ 2021 Sources and reporting of oil spills and impacts on wildlife 1970–2018. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 28:754-762 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-10538-0
  • White BJ; Yeung P; Chilvers BL; O’Donoghue K 2020 Reducing the “cost of caring” in animal-care professionals: Social work contribution in a pilot education program to address burnout and compassion fatigue, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment,1-20 https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2020.1822249
  • Sievwright KA; Battley PF; McConnell HM; Chilvers BL; Morgan KJ 2019 Post-release breeding success of oil-rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated little blue penguins, Eudyptula minor, following the M/V Rena oil spill, New Zealand Marine Pollution Bulletin,149,110553 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110553
  • Hunter SA Tennyson AJD; Bartle JA; Miskelly CM; Waugh SM; McConnell HM; Morgan KJ; Finlayson ST; Baylis SM; Chilvers BL 2019 Assessing avian mortality during oil spills: a case study of the New Zealand MV ‘Rena oil spill, 2011 Endangered Species Research,39,303-314 https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2019/39/n039p303.pdf
  • Chilvers BL; Battley PF 2019 Species prioritization index for oiled wildlife response planning in New Zealand, Marine Pollution Bulletin,149,110529 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110529
  • Finlayson GR; Chilvers BL; Pearson H; White BJ; Finlayson ST; Sievwright K; van Zyl N; Morgan KJ; Clumpner C 2018 Efficacy of seawater for washing oiled birds during an oil spill response. Marine Pollution Bulletin,126,137-140 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.080
  • Chilvers BL; Finlayson G; Ashwell D; Low SI; Morgan KJ; Pearson HE 2016 Is the way an oil spill response is reported in the media important for the final perception of the clean-up? Marine Pollution Bulletin,104,1-2,257-261 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.01.013
  • Chilvers BL; Finlayson G; Candy EJ; SriramA; Morgan KJ; Cockrem JF 2016 Corticosterone stress hormone responses in oil rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated little penguins. Marine Pollution Bulletin,113,1-2,312-315 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.10.004
  • McConnell HM; Gartrell BD; Chilvers BL; Finlayson ST; Bridgen PCE; Morgan KJ 2015 Baseline hydrocarbon levels in New Zealand coastal and marine avifauna, Marine Pollution Bulletin,94,1-2,290-298 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.02.001
  • Chilvers BL; Morgan KM; Finlayson G; Sievwright KA 2015 Diving behaviour of wildlife impacted by an oil spill: A clean-up and rehabilitation success? Marine Pollution Bulletin,100,1,128-133 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.09.019
  • Kane Brides, Kevin A. Wood, Scott W. Petrek, Jonathan Cooper, Stephen E. Christmas,  Jon Middleton, Kevin R. Leighton, Adam Grogan. (2019) Moult migration, site fidelity and survival of Canada Geese Anser anser at Lake Windermere, Cumbria. Ringing and Migration, 34(2) 84-94
  • Kane Brides, Kevin A. Wood, Kevin R. Leighton, Jude Barbour, Scott W. Petrek, Jonathan Cooper, Stephen H. Vickers, Stephen E. Christmas, Jon Middleton, Adam Grogan. (2023) Moult migration, site fidelity and survival of Greylag Geese Branta canadensis caught at Lake Windermere, Cumbria. Wildfowl, 73 43-63
  • Kane Brides, Jon Middleton, Kevin R. Leighton Adam Grogan. (2018) The use of camera traps to identify individual colour-marked geese at a moulting site Cumbria. Ringing and Migration, 33(1) 1-4
  • Grogan, A. Pulquério, M.J.F., Cruz, M.J., Oaten, P., Thompson, R., Grantham, M., Thomas, T., Atkinson, R. and Kelly, A. (2014) Factors affecting the welfare of rehabilitation of oiled murres (Uria aalge) in England and Wales, UK. Proceedings of the Thirty-seventh AMOP Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON: 249-264. 
  • Grogan A. and Kelly A. 2013 A Review of RSPCA research into wildlife rehabilitation. Veterinary Record 10.1136/vr.101139 
  • Grogan, A. and Kelly, A. (2016) Rehabilitation and release. In: Mullineaux, E. and Keeble, E. (Eds.) BSAVA Manual of Wildlife Casualties (2nd ed.) pp. 81-92. BSAVA, Gloucester.
  • Grogan A. (2021) Animal welfare in wildlife rehabilitation In Miller and Schlieps (eds) Standards for Wildlife Rehabilitation; Pp 31-43.  NWRA, Bloomington, MN, US.
  • Grogan A. (2021) Animal welfare in rehabilitation. In Cockram et al. (eds) Wildlife Rehabilitation: A Comprehensive Approach; 2nd Edition. Pp 13-30.  IWRC, Eugene, OR, US. 
  • Grogan A. (2021) Post release monitoring. In Cockram et al. (eds) Wildlife Rehabilitation: A Comprehensive Approach; 2nd Edition. Pp 353-362.  IWRC, Eugene, OR, US. 
  • Grogan A. (2021) Research. In Cockram et al. (eds) Wildlife Rehabilitation: A Comprehensive Approach; 2nd Edition. Pp 363-375.  IWRC, Eugene, OR, US.
  • Vandenabeele S.P., Wilson R.W. and Grogan A (2011) Tags on seabirds: How seriously are instrument-induced behaviours considered? Animal Welfare 20, 559-571.
  • Vandenabeele S.P., Shepard E.L., Grogan A. and Wilson R.P. (2012) When three per cent may not be three per cent; device-equipped seabirds experience variable flight constraints. Marine Biology 159(1), 1-14.
  • Vandenabeele S.P., Grundy, E., Friswell M., Grogan A.,Votier S.C., Wilson R.P. (2014) Excess Baggage for Birds: Inappropriate Placement of Tags on Gannets Changes Flight Patterns. PLOS 1 9(3) e92657
  • Vandenabeele S.P., Shepard, E.L., Grogan, A. and Wilson, R.P. (2016) Balancing on the high wire: a study into PTT antenna effects on the Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) Peer J. Preprints https://peerj.com/preprints/2035v1/
  • Hardouin, L. A., Thompson, R., Stenning, M. and Reby, D. (2013) Anatomical bases of sex and size-related acoustic variation in herring gull alarm calls. Journal of Avian Biology 44:1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-048X.2013.00144.x
  • Sayer, S., Allen, R., Bellman, K., Beaulieu, M., Cooper, T., Dyer, N., Hockin, K., Hockley, K., Jarvis, D., Jones, G., Oaten, P., Waddington, N., Witt, M. J. and Hawkes, L. (2022) Post release monitoring of rehabilitated gray seal pups over large temporal and spatial scales. Marine Mammal Science 38(2): 539-556. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12885
  • Morrison C, Sparling C, Sadler L, Charles A, Sharples R, McConnell B (2011) Postrelease dive ability in rehabilitated harbor seals. Marine Mammal Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00510.x
  • Kelley CN, TR Kelly, K Clatterbuck, MC Knapp, J Skoglund, RS Duerr. 2024. Comparison of manual restraint with and without sedation on outcomes for wild birds undergoing decontamination. Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 38(2): 67-74. https://doi.org/10.1647/AVIANMS-D-23-00030
  • Duerr RS, Ziccardi MH, and JG Massey. 2016. Investigation into mortalities during treatment: Factors affecting oiled Common Murre (Uria aalge) survival to release through rehabilitation. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 52(3): 495-505. https://doi.org/10.7589/2015-03-054
  • Ruoppolo V., E.J. Woehler, K Morgan, and C.J. Clumpner. 2012. Wildlife and Oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster. Polar Record 48:1-13. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/abs/wildlife-and-oil-in-the-antarctic-a-recipe-for-cold-disaster/64FAEECEA95B979E8A288AC6D87B94C3
  • Vanstreels RET, Parsons NJ, Sherley RB, Stander N, Strauss V, Kemper J, Waller LJ, Barham BJ, Ludynia K (2023) Factors determining the number of seabirds impacted by oil spills and the success of their rehabilitation: lessons learned from Namibia and South Africa. Marine Pollution Bulletin
  • Kelway P & Stander NJ. (2020)The Treasure Oil Spill – 20 years on. What one of the largest animal rescue missions in history can tell us about wildlife response preparedness.
  • (Parsons NJ, Tjørve KMC, Underhill LG & Strauss V. (2006) The rehabilitation of Swift Terns Sterna bergii incapacitated by marine foam on Robben Island, South Africa. 
  • Nel DC, Crawford RJM & Parsons NJ. (2003) The conservation status and impact of oiling on the African Penguin In: Rehabilitation of oiled African Penguins: a conservation success story. (Nel DC & Whittington PA (eds).
  • Ryan P, Ludynia K & Pichegru L. (2019)Ships’ risky fuel transfer are threatening African penguins. The Conversation.