SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Volunteers Friday released 38 birds, the first survivors of the San Francisco Bay oil spill to be freed.
The birds, retrieved with feathers coated with oil, went through days of gentle washing. The spill of 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel from a Chinese container ship last week killed at least 1,100 birds, while 888 were rescued, The San Jose Mercury News reported.
Yvonne Adassi of the California Department of Fish and Game said a cove near Pillar Point, about 25 miles from the bay, was selected as the release point because it is clean and provides suitable habitat if the birds want to stick around.
"They can thrive here if they want to stay, but it's not so far away that they can't get home from here," she said.
The group waited to see what would happen when the first bird, a Greater Scaup, was released into shallow water. Volunteers cheered when it flew off after a brief period of splashing.
Experts said the spill occurred at an especially bad time when birds are heading south on the Pacific flyway.
