I Got to Go Out With the Coast Guard

Wildbase had a giant petrel in hospital for a few days, and with those giant seabirds it's quite important to get them back into the wild asap. More than a few days in hospital can end up causing a downhill turn. In this case the patient had been found on a beach, which means it must have been pretty sick, but as tends to happen in these cases, a particular cause wasn't identified. It was nursed and given lots to eat, and a big factor is restoring the waterproofing of their feathers.

After a few days, it was time for him to go home, which meant a trip out to the coast!

A forty minute drive to the coast later, with the petrel in a dog cage in the back, covered by a towel, we met the two guys at the little dock with their little boat. We climbed on in, and it was suggested to me that I not sit in the back, because I might "get a little wet." Instead, we stood in the cabin area, where there were back supports instead of seats. These made sense once we got going: after clearing the small bay, we took off.

It was super windy that day, and along with it came massive waves. And I mean several meters high. We'd go up one, fly off the crest into the air, freefall, and slam back down onto the water. Then up the next one, into the air, and down again. Fssssh-woooosh-POW. That's my impression of it.

Though somewhat terrifying, that part was pretty fun and not particularly nauseating. The difficult part was when we got far enough out (several kilometers, I forget the exact number), and came to a stop. The wildbase person I was with brought the bird out of his cage and put him over the side. Freedom! We waited to see what he did--would he paddle and drink and flap his wings like a normal bird? The answer was yes, he looked very happy and healthy! He quickly drifted away from us, exhibiting all the normal behaviours, and we watched him for a long time.

 

This turned out to be less fun than expected, because those waves were still massively high, and instead of rocketing over them, we were just sitting there, waving steeply back and forth. The wildbase lady described it later as, "I was telling myself, 'just focus on the bird, focus on the bird,' trying not to puke." Getting back to solid ground was quite a relief.