Dyan deNapoli: The great penguin rescue

Prevoditelj: Vedrana Vučković Jakšić Recezent: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

Otkada znam za sebe

For as long as I can remember,

I have felt a very deep connection to animals and to the ocean.

osjećam duboku povezanost

sa životinjama i oceanom.

U ovoj dobi,

And at this age, my personal idol was Flipper the dolphin.

moj osobni idol

bio je dupin Flipper.

And when I first learned about endangered species,

Kada sam prvi put čula za ugrožene vrste

I was truly distressed to know that every day,

uistinu me potresla spoznaja

da životinje svakim danom zauvijek nestaju s lica Zemlje.

animals were being wiped off the face of this Earth forever.

And I wanted to do something to help, but I always wondered:

Željela sam nekako pomoći,

no uvijek sam se pitala

What could one person possibly do to make a difference?

što bi to jedna osoba mogla učiniti da nešto promijeni?

And it would be 30 years,

Proći će 30 godina,

but I would eventually get the answer to that question.

no na kraju ću dobiti odgovor na to pitanje.

When these heartbreaking images of oiled birds

Kada su se dirljive slike ptica prekrivenih naftom

finally began to emerge from the Gulf of Mexico last year

u Meksičkom zaljevu počele pojavljivati prošle godine

during the horrific BP oil spill,

tijekom strašnog izljeva nafte BP-a,

njemačka biologinja Silvia Gaus

a German biologist by the name of Silvia Gaus was quoted as saying,

izjavila je:

"Trebali bismo eutanizirati sve ptice prekrivene naftom

"We should just euthanize all oiled birds,

because studies have shown

jer istraživanja su pokazala

that fewer than one percent of them survive after being released."

da manje od jedan posto njih

preživi nakon što ih pustimo".

Nikako to nisam mogla prihvatiti.

And I could not disagree more.

In addition,

Osim toga, vjerujem da svaka životinja prekrivena naftom

I believe that every oiled animal deserves a second chance at life.

zaslužuje drugu priliku za život.

And I want to tell you why I feel so strongly about this.

Želim podijeliti s vama

zašto mi je toliko stalo do toga.

On June 23, 2000,

23. lipnja 2000.

a ship named the Treasure sank off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa,

brod po imenu Treasure

potonuo je u blizini obale Capetowna u JAR-u

spilling 1,300 tons of fuel,

i prolio 1.300 tona goriva

which polluted the habitats of nearly half the entire world population

koje je onečistilo staništa

gotovo polovice svjetske populacije

afričkih pingvina.

of African penguins.

Now, the ship sank between Robben Island to the south,

Zatim je potonuo brod između otoka Robben na jugu

and Dassen Island to the north --

i otoka Dassen na sjeveru.

two of the penguins' main breeding islands.

Radi se o dva najvažnija otoka za parenje pingvina.

And exactly six years and three days earlier,

Točno šest godina i tri dana ranije,

20. lipnja 1994.,

on June 20, 1994,

brod po nazivu Appollo Sea potonuo je blizu otoka Dassen

a ship named the Apollo Sea sank near Dassen Island,

oiling 10,000 penguins, half of which died.

i naftom prekrio 10.000 pingvina --

a pola ih je uginulo.

Now when the Treasure sank in 2000,

Treasure je 2000. potonuo

it was the height of the best breeding season

na vrhuncu najbolje sezone parenja

scientists had ever recorded for the African penguin,

koju su znanstvenici ikada zabilježili za afričke pingvine --

koji su tada bili na popisu gotovo ugroženih vrsta.

which at the time, was listed as a threatened species.

Ubrzo je gotovo 20.000 pingvina

And soon, nearly 20,000 penguins

were covered with this toxic oil.

bilo prekriveno otrovnom naftom.

The local seabird rescue center, named SANCCOB,

Lokalni centar za spašavanje morskih ptica SANCCOB

immediately launched a massive rescue operation,

odmah je pokrenuo masovnu akciju spašavanja --

and this soon would become the largest animal rescue ever undertaken.

koja je ubrzo postala

najveće spašavanje životinja ikad poduzeto.

At the time, I was working down the street.

U tom sam razdoblju radila u blizini.

I was a penguin aquarist at the New England Aquarium.

Bila sam akvarist za pingvine u Akvariju New England.

And exactly 11 years ago yesterday,

Točno na jučerašnji dan prije 11 godina

the phone rang in the penguin office.

zazvonio je telefon u uredu za pingvine.

And with that call, my life would change forever.

Taj će poziv zauvijek promijeniti moj život.

It was Estelle van Der Merwe calling from SANCCOB,

Zvala je Estelle van der Meer iz SANCCOB-a.

saying, "Please come help.

Rekla je: "Molim vas, dođite nam pomoći.

We have thousands of oiled penguins

Imamo na tisuće pingvina prekrivenih naftom

i na tisuće voljnih,

and thousands of willing but completely inexperienced volunteers.

no potpuno neiskusnih volontera.

And we need penguin experts to come train and supervise them."

Trebamo stručnjake za pingvine koji će ih obučiti i nadgledati".

Dva dana kasnije

So two days later,

I was on a plane headed for Cape Town

bila sam na avionu za Capetown

with a team of penguin specialists.

s timom stručnjaka za pingvine.

And the scene inside of this building was devastating and surreal.

Prizor u toj zgradi

bio je uznemirujuć i nestvaran.

In fact, many people compared it to a war zone.

U biti, mnogo ga je ljudi usporedilo s ratnom zonom.

Last week, a 10-year-old girl asked me:

Prošli me tjedan jedna desetogodišnjakinja upitala:

"What did it feel like when you first walked into that building

"Kakav je bio osjećaj

kada ste ušli u tu zgradu

and saw so many oiled penguins?"

i vidjeli sve te pingvine prekrivene naftom?"

And this is what happened.

Evo što se dogodilo.

I was instantly transported back to that moment in time.

Istoga sam se trena vratila

u taj trenutak.

Pingvini su veoma vokalne ptice

Penguins are very vocal birds and really, really noisy,

i veoma su bučni.

Očekivala sam da ću ući u tu zgradu

so I expected to walk into this building

and be met with this cacophony of honking and braying and squawking.

i da će me dočekati kakofonija

hukanja, skvičanja i kriještanja,

But instead,

no umjesto toga

when we stepped through those doors and into the building,

kada smo ušli u zgradu kroz ta vrata

it was eerily silent.

bilo je sablasno tiho.

So it was very clear

Bilo je jasno kao dan

these were stressed, sick, traumatized birds.

da su te ptice izmučene, bolesne i istraumatizirane.

Druga izvanredna stvar

The other thing that was so striking

was the sheer number of volunteers.

bio je sam broj volontera.

Do 1.000 ljudi dnevno

Up to 1,000 people a day came to the rescue center.

dolazilo je u centar za spašavanje.

S vremenom, tijekom postupka spašavanja,

Eventually, over the course of this rescue,

more than 12-and-a-half thousand volunteers

više od 12 i pol tisuća volontera

came from all over the world to Cape Town,

iz čitavog svijeta stiglo je u Capetown

da bi pomoglo spasiti pingvine.

to help save these birds.

And the amazing thing was that not one of them had to be there.

Nevjerojatna stvar

bila je da nitko od njih nije morao biti ondje --

a ipak su bili.

Yet they were.

So for the few of us that were there in a professional capacity,

Za nas nekoliko koji smo ondje došli kao profesionalci

this extraordinary volunteer response to this animal crisis

ovaj nevjerojatan odaziv volontera

na krizu ovih životinja

was profoundly moving and awe-inspiring.

bio je iznimno dirljiv i izazivao je strahopoštovanje.

So the day after we arrived,

Dan nakon što smo stigli

two of us from the aquarium were put in charge of room two.

nas dvoje iz akvarija postali smo zaduženi za prostoriju dva.

Room two had more than 4,000 oiled penguins in it.

U ovoj se prostoriji nalazilo više od 4.000 pingvina prekrivenih naftom.

Now, mind you --

Pazite, tri dana ranije

three days earlier, we had 60 penguins under our care,

brinuli smo se za 60 pingvina.

so we were definitely overwhelmed

Bili smo potpuno zatrpani

i pomalo preplašeni -- barem ja.

and just a bit terrified -- at least I was.

Osobno, stvarno nisam znala

Personally, I really didn't know

jesam li sposobna suočiti se

if I was capable of handling such a monstrous task.

s tako golemim zadatkom.

A kao grupa,

And collectively,

we really didn't know if we could pull this off.

zaista nismo znali možemo li uspjeti.

Because we all knew that just six years earlier,

Jer svi smo znali

da je samo šest godina ranije

half as many penguins had been oiled and rescued,

upola manje pingvina bilo prekriveno naftom i spašeno,

no samo ih je polovica preživjela.

and only half of them had survived.

Dakle, je li ljudski moguće

So would it be humanly possible to save this many oiled penguins?

spasiti toliko pingvina prekrivenih naftom?

Jednostavno nismo znali.

We just did not know.

No nadu su nam dali

But what gave us hope

nevjerojatno predani i hrabri volonteri --

were these incredibly dedicated and brave volunteers,

three of whom here are force-feeding penguins.

od kojih troje ovdje na silu hrani pingvine.

You may notice they're wearing very thick gloves.

Možete primjetiti da nose veoma debele rukavice.

And what you should know about African penguins

Ono što trebate znati o afričkim pingvinima

is that they have razor-sharp beaks.

je da su njihovi kljunovi oštri poput žileta.

Ubrzo

And before long,

our bodies were covered head to toe

naša su tijela bila prekrivena

od glave do pete teškim ranama

with these nasty wounds inflicted by the terrified penguins.

koje su nam zadali prestrašeni pingvini.

Dan nakon što smo stigli

Now the day after we arrived, a new crisis began to unfold.

počela se javljati nova kriza.

The oil slick was now moving north towards Dassen Island,

Naftna se mrlja sada kretala na sjever prema otoku Dassen,

and the rescuers despaired,

a spasioci su počeli očajavati.

because they knew if the oil hit,

Znali su da ako ih zadesi nafta

it would not be possible to rescue any more oiled birds.

neće moći spasiti više nijednu pticu prekrivenu naftom.

And there really were no good solutions.

Dobrih rješenja doista nije bilo.

But then finally,

No na koncu

one of the researchers threw out this crazy idea.

jedan se od spasioca dosjetio ove sulude ideje.

He said, "OK, why don't we try and collect the birds

Rekao je: "U redu, zašto ne pokušamo skupiti

ptice kojima prijeti najveći rizik" --

at the greatest risk of getting oiled" --

skupili su ih 20.000 --

they collected 20,000 --

"i prevesti ih 800 km sjeverno uz obalu

"and we'll ship them 500 miles up the coast to Port Elizabeth

do Port Elizabetha u otvorenim kamionima,

in these open-air trucks,

ondje ih pustiti u čistu vodu

and release them into the clean waters there

i pustiti ih da otplivaju kući".

and let them swim back home?"

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So three of those penguins -- Peter, Pamela and Percy --

Tri pingvina: Peter, Pamela i Percy

imali su satelitske odašiljače.

wore satellite tags,

and the researchers crossed their fingers

Istraživači su držali palčeve i nadali se

and hoped that by the time they got back home,

da će dok pingvini dođu kući

nafta biti uklonjena s njihovih otoka.

the oil would be cleaned up from their islands.

Srećom, kada su stigli,

And luckily, the day they arrived, it was.

bila je.

So it had been a huge gamble, but it had paid off.

Radilo se o golemom riziku, no isplatilo se.

Sada znaju

And so they know now that they can use this strategy

da mogu upotrijebiti ovu strategiju

in future oil spills.

u budućim izljevima nafte.

So in wildlife rescue as in life,

U spašavanju životinja, kao i u životu,

we learn from each previous experience,

učimo iz svakog prethodnog iskustva.

and we learn from both our successes and our failures.

Učimo iz naših uspjeha,

ali i neuspjeha.

Najvažnija stvar koju smo naučili

And the main thing learned during the Apollo Sea rescue in '94

tijekom akcije spašavanja Apollo Sea '94.

was that most of those penguins had died due to the unwitting use

bila je da je većina pingvina uginula

zbog nesmotrene uporabe

of poorly ventilated transport boxes and trucks,

loše prozračenih

transportnih kutija i kamiona --

because they just had not been prepared

jer jednostavno nisu bili pripremljeni

to deal with so many oiled penguins at once.

suočiti se s toliko pingvina prekrivenih naftom odjednom.

So in these six years between these two oil spills,

Tijekom šest godina između ta dva izljeva nafte

they've built thousands of these well-ventilated boxes.

izradili su na tisuće dobro prozračenih kutija.

And as a result, during the Treasure rescue,

Kao rezultat, tijekom akcije spašavanja Treasure

just 160 penguins died during the transport process,

samo je 160 pingvina uginulo

za vrijeme prijevoza,

as opposed to 5,000.

za razliku od 5.000 ranije.

So this alone was a huge victory.

Već je to bila velika pobjeda.

Osim toga, tijekom akcije Apollo naučili smo

Something else learned during the Apollo rescue

kako istrenirati pingvine

was how to train the penguins

to take fish freely from their hands,

da slobodno jedu ribu iz svojih ruku,

using these training boxes.

koristeći ove okvire za obuku.

And we used this technique again during the Treasure rescue.

Ponovno smo koristili tu tehniku

tijekom akcije Treasure.

But an interesting thing was noted during the training process.

No uočili smo nešto zanimljivo

tijekom postupka obuke.

The first penguins to make that transition to free feeding

Prvi pingvini

koji su prešli na samostalno hranjenje

were the ones that had a metal band on their wing

bili su oni s metalnim prstenom na krilu

from the Apollo Sea spill six years earlier.

iz akcije Appollo Sea šest godina ranije.

So penguins learn from previous experience, too.

Dakle, i pingvini uče

iz prethodnih iskustava.

Svim tim pingvinima

So all of those penguins had to have the oil meticulously cleaned

bilo je potrebno pažljivo očistiti naftu s tijela.

from their bodies.

Trebalo je najmanje sat vremena da bi dvoje ljudi

It would take two people at least an hour just to clean one penguin.

očistilo samo jednog pingvina.

When you clean a penguin,

Kada čistite pingvina,

you first have to spray it with a degreaser.

prvo ga morate naprskati odmašćivačem.

And this brings me to my favorite story from the Treasure rescue.

Time dolazim do svoje omiljene priče

iz akcije Treasure.

About a year prior to this oil spill,

Oko godinu dana prije ovog izljeva

17-godišnji učenik

a 17-year-old student had invented a degreaser.

izmislio je odmašćivač.

And they'd been using it at SANCCOB with great success,

Otada su ga koristili u SANCCOB-u s velikim uspjehom

so they began using it during the Treasure rescue.

pa su ga počeli koristiti i za vrijeme akcije Treasure.

But partway through, they ran out.

No nakon nekog vremena ga je ponestalo.

So in a panic, Estelle from SANCCOB called the student

Uspaničena, Estelle iz SANCCOB-a nazvala je učenika

and said, "Please, you have to make more!"

i rekla: "Moraš ga napraviti još".

So he raced to the lab

Požurio je u laboratorij

and made enough to clean the rest of the birds.

i napravio ga dovoljno da bi mogli očistiti ostale ptice.

So I just think it is the coolest thing

Mislim da je nevjerojatna stvar

that a teenager invented a product

da je tinejdžer

izmislio proizvod

that helped save the lives of thousands of animals.

koji je pomogao spasiti živote

tisućama životinja.

So what happened to those 20,000 oiled penguins?

Što se dogodilo s tih 20.000 pingvina?

Je li Silvia Gaus bila u pravu?

And was Silvia Gaus right?

Bismo li rutinski trebali eutanizirati

Should we routinely euthanize all oiled birds

sve ptice prekrivene naftom

because most of them are going to die anyway?

jer će većina njih ionako uginuti?

Well, she could not be more wrong.

Grdno se prevarila.

After half a million hours of grueling volunteer labor,

Nakon pola milijuna sati

mukotrpnog volonterskog rada

more than 90 percent of those oiled penguins

više od 90 posto naftom prekrivenih pingvina

were successfully returned to the wild.

uspješno je vraćeno u divljinu.

And we know from follow-up studies

Iz daljnjih istraživanja doznali smo

that they have lived just as long as never-oiled penguins,

da su živjeli jednako dugo

kao pingvini koji nisu bili zagađeni

i parili se gotovo jednako uspješno.

and bred nearly as successfully.

And in addition,

Osim toga, oko 3.000 mladih pingvina

about 3,000 penguin chicks were rescued and hand raised.

spašeno je i ručno othranjeno.

And again, we know from long-term monitoring

Dugoročnim praćenjem također smo doznali

that more of these hand-raised chicks survive to adulthood and breeding age

da više ručno othranjenih mladunaca

preživi do odrasle dobi i parenja

nego mladunci koje othranjuju roditelji.

than do parent-raised chicks.

Oboružan tim znanjem,

Armed with this knowledge, SANCCOB has a chick-bolstering project,

SANCCOB pomaže mladuncima.

and every year, they rescue and raise abandoned chicks,

Svake godine spašavaju i othranjuju napuštene mladunce.

and they have a very impressive, 80 percent success rate.

Imaju veoma impresivnu

stopu uspjeha od 80 posto.

This is critically important,

Ovo je iznimno važno

because one year ago,

jer je prije godinu dana

the African penguin was declared endangered.

afrički pingvin proglašen ugroženim.

Mogli bi izumrijeti

And they could be extinct in less than 10 years

za manje od 10 godina

ako sada ne učinimo nešto da ih zaštitimo.

if we don't do something now to protect them.

So what did I learn

Što sam ja naučila

from this intense and unforgettable experience?

iz ovog intenzivnog i nezaboravnog iskustva?

Personally, I learned that I am capable of handling so much more

Osobno, naučila sam

da sam sposobna suočiti se s mnogo više nego sam ikad mislila.

than I ever dreamed possible.

And I learned that one person can make a huge difference.

Naučila sam da jedna osoba

može mnogo toga promijeniti.

Just look at that 17-year-old.

Pogledajte samo tog 17-godišnjaka.

And when we come together and work as one,

Kada se ujedinimo

i radimo kao jedno

we can achieve extraordinary things.

možemo postići izvanredne stvari.

Uistinu, biti dijelom nečega

And truly, to be a part of something so much larger than yourself

toliko većega od vas samih

najdragocjenije je iskustvo

is the most rewarding experience you can possibly have.

koje možete steći.

So I'd like to leave you with one final thought

Željela bih vas napustiti uz završnu misao

i izazovom, ako hoćete.

and a challenge, if you will.

My mission as The Penguin Lady is to raise awareness and funding

Moja misija kao spasiteljice pingvina

podići je svijest i skupiti sredstva

za zaštitu pingvina.

to protect penguins.

No zašto bi ikom od vas trebalo biti stalo do pingvina?

But why should any of you care about penguins?

Well, you should care because they're an indicator species.

Trebalo bi vam biti stalo

jer oni su indikatorska vrsta.

And simply put: if penguins are dying, it means our oceans are dying.

Jednostavno rečeno, ako pingvini umiru,

to znači da umiru i naši oceani

And we ultimately will be affected,

i da ćemo na koncu i mi biti time pogođeni.

because, as Sylvia Earle says,

Kao što kaže Sylvia Earle:

"The oceans are our life-support system."

"Oceani su sustav podrške živom svijetu".

And the two main threats to penguins today

Danas su dvije najveće prijetnje pingvinima

are overfishing and global warming.

prekomjerni izlov ribe i globalno zatopljenje.

To su dvije stvari

And these are two things

that each one of us actually has the power to do something about.

za koje svatko od nas

zapravo može nešto učiniti.

Ako svatko od nas učini svoj dio

So if we each do our part, together, we can make a difference,

zajedno možemo nešto promijeniti

and we can help keep penguins from going extinct.

i pomoći spasiti pingvine od izumiranja.

Humans have always been the greatest threat to penguins,

Ljudi su oduvijek najveća prijetnja pingvinima,

no sada smo njihova jedina nada.

but we are now their only hope.

Hvala vam.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)