"We'll never forget this night." Volunteers near Anapa spent New Year's Eve cleaning fuel oil from birds—there aren't enough people.
"Please come and help! 307 birds were picked up by 6am. That's the number from this evening until 6pm," "People, who's still on duty? The guys at 2 Chernomorskaya are falling off their feet!", "URGENTLY, we need help. The birds are completely covered in oil!!!"
— I've been full of such messages since last night. volunteer chat.
At bird rescue centers, some people are working for two days without sleep. Washing a single bird takes up to three hours. After that, they still need care, feeding, and watering. People are most needed in Vityazevo.
Birds continue to be transported. Individual teams are patrolling the shores, including according to eyewitness reports, and are picking up exhausted birds.
Residents write that in the area Anapa "a lot of new fuel oil."
"The wind changed direction yesterday. There were a lot more birds in the oil," "Vityazevo Beach, lots of birds on the shore. Covered in oil, some can't stand up. You approach them, and they crawl into the sea," "Mom found 20 of them, all covered in oil.", — they write in the chat.
Another “sketch” from the scene:
"Water has to be transported by truck, in canisters; the boiler can't handle the volume of water used by such complex birds! The men are breaking their backs, and they need to be replaced. One or two are kept on clean water, which must be carried in enamel buckets, and another man is constantly carrying out the dirty water and pouring it into other canisters for proper disposal. It's a never-ending cycle!"
As of December 31, volunteers rescued More than 1600 birds. Read a long and emotional report from the Krasnodar region. here.