Bridey is our Senior Technical Officer in Oiled Wildlife Response, Widlbase, Massey University. She hails from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and has worked with animals since her early teens, discovering a deep love for wildlife. Her work in a marine zoo paved the way to take up a position as a Wildlife Technician, Palmerston North, Massey University, Wildbase in 2005. She worked under the guidance of Dr Brett Gartrell, supporting the wildlife vets and residents with veterinary nursing and husbandry care for wildlife patients. In 2014, she moved to the Wildbase oil response team, and currently is in that role, supporting the management of the OWRT online training course and contributing to Wildbase’s contractual obligations to Maritime New Zealand.  This role includes management of the specialist wildlife equipment and training about oiled wildlife response principles and practices. In addition, Bridey’s role includes a teaching component in the  School of Veterinary Medicine which she greatly enjoys. She teaches special topics for veterinary students such as avian and zoo animal behaviour and training, and mental health management for veterinary students.  The completion of a Master of Health Science confirmed her interest in the mental health effects on animal care professionals and emergency responders.  Information from this research forms mental health training for oiled wildlife responders and can be integrated into health and safety practices.  Bridey has spoken on this subject nationally and internationally and intends to integrate this topic further into response protocols.

Bridey White, Christina Severinsen, Polly Yeung 2025. The Mental Health of Oiled Wildlife Responders Deployed to the MV Rena Oil Spill in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 19: e256, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2025.10178

This research investigated the mental health impacts and coping mechanisms faced by trained oiled wildlife responders who deployed to the 2011 MV Rena oil spill, Aotearoa, New Zealand,
following the vessel’s grounding on Astrolabe reef. Interviews were conducted with eigth core wildlife responders based on the challenges they faced as trained oiled wildlife responders when managing oiled wildlife, within the oil spill response work environment, and how do oiled wildlife response agencies promote and protect the mental health of responders? Participants demonstrated a high commitment to utilizing their expertise for wildlife rehabilitation. While they accepted euthanasia as necessary, they experienced more intense emotions to mass mortality events and accidental deaths in the wildlife facility. Responders employed informal coping mechanisms, relying heavily on social connectedness and teamwork for support but reported insufficient training in trauma management and limited formal debriefing opportunities. Many depended on previous experiences to cope with the psychological challenges encountered and relied on strong professional identity. The findings highlight the need to integrate primary prevention mental health training into oil spill response. This should specifically focus on mental health support, stress management, and resilience development.

Al A. Hall, B. Louise Chilvers, Jody S. Weir 2025. Planning for a pinniped response during a marine oil spill. Environmental Science and Pollution Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-025-36192-y

Understanding the distribution and abundance of wildlife populations is key to successful oil spill response planning. Fur seals are difficult to rehabilitate if oiled, and many common spill response techniques may be limited in the high-energy rocky shore habitats they prefer. Preventing oil from reaching colonies and hazing or deterring animals away from oil are high priority response options for pinnipeds during spills. To do this, local knowledge of pinniped distribution and abundance is required, as well as knowledge of effective and safe hazing and deterrence mechanisms. From pup production assessments, we estimated that a population of 13,147–17,675 New Zealand fur seal currently inhabits Banks Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand. This area contains the largest port on New Zealand’s South Island and a secondary port that is popular with cruise ships, elevating its oil spill risk profile. From the knowledge gained regarding NZFS distribution and abundance, we evaluated mitigation methods which could protect fur seals during oil spills, wherever these species occur, and make suggestions to managers on how to mount an effective pinniped response.

Alexandra L. Egan, B. Louise Chilvers and Sue Cassells 2024 Expected direct costs of an oil spill in a UNESCO World Heritage area in New Zealand. Aust J Agric Resour Econ. DOI:10.1111/1467-8489.12569 

Fiordland National Park is a UNESCO site located in the remote, southwest of New Zealand's South Island, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. One of its leading attractions is Milford Sound. An oil spill in this area could not only impact the industries that operate in Milford Sound but also impact all of the National Park. To improve the knowledge base about this area in regard to oil spills and policies regarding ship visitation, this study aimed to estimate the costs of clean-up, impacts to fisheries, tourism, recreation and the wildlife/environment under three oil spill scenarios in Milford Sound. Minimum costs are estimated at NZD 140–154 million. These results demonstrate the need for proper planning and response measures, and appropriate domestic and international policies to help minimise the potential damages that may occur in the event of an oil spill in a remote and pristine area of New Zealand.

We are excited about attending, speaking at and running a workshop on Responder Mental Health at The Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference (EOW) in Cape Town next month. The EOW conference is an international event that brings together researchers, conservationists, policymakers, and industry to address the impact of oil spills on wildlife. It is the only global event that focuses on the planning, response, rehabilitation, release and research aspects of oil spills and their effects on wildlife. This year, the EOW will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, which shines a spotlight on the amazing Host Organization – The South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). The EOW conference will also remember the 25th Anniversary of the MV Treasure Oil Spill, the largest animal rescue effort in the world, where over 20,000 African Penguins were cleaned, rehabilitated and released while an additional 20,000 penguins were pre-emptively captured to prevent oil exposure. In fact, more penguins were cared for during the Treasure spill than exist in the wild today.

Every two years the Wildbase OWR team get all of New Zealands National oiled wildlife response team (NORWTS) together to train the members from across New Zealand. The course is run over three days covering off OWR 101 for the new members of the team, IMT exercising for the National Response Members of the Team and a full day of exercising where the group is divided into three teams and rotate through three critical exercises. This year the exercises included an advice to On-scene commanders exercise, an exercise on how to priorities species during a spill in NZ and a trip out to LATU (the oiled wildlife response facility based near the Large Animal Training Unit (LATU) behind the Massey University Campus). The LATU exercise was to provide an overview of the equipment held on site at Massey that is owned by MNZ, site selection for Tier 2 response, and discussion of the flow of animals within a facility. This exercise was led by Bridey White and Bill Dwyer.  

New Zealand’s Oiled Wildlife Response is designed to be a mobile response, including the ability to transport, build and run a facility anywhere within New Zealand. For this, we have specialised equipment, including transportable shipping containers with wash/rinse/dry facilities and stabilisation trailers for in-field deployment.  As part of the MNZ updating and renewal of OWR equipment, new response containers and trailers were built specifically to be housed in the South Island, with these being transported to Lyttleton, Timaru and Invercargill in July this year.