What was the San Francisco ‘Mystery Goo’?

Scientists are no closer to identifying the mystery goo that has covered the feathers of hundreds of seabirds, along San Francisco’s shoreline last month. They have discovered that the goo consists of a mixture of nonpetroleum fats and oils. This however, can cover a wide range of substances.

“Those are all possible substances it could be. It can be difficult to narrow down,” said Steve Gonzalez, a Fish and Wildlife spokesman. “We're going to continue testing until we learn more or hit a brick wall.”

The problem with the goo was that it differed in consistency from a gummy texture to a hard varnish and was extremely damaging to the birds’ feathers. Birds' feathers are important as they protect them, serving as insulation to keep them warm and aid with buoyancy. Once the feathers get coated with a substance such as oil, this protection is lost. The bird can die of hypothermia, starvation or even drown. Amongst some of the birds affected were surf scoters, scaups, horned grebes, and common goldeneyes. They began washing up along a 20 mile stretch of the East Bay shoreline back on January 16. International Bird Rescue took in 323 birds live birds but also discovered that around 170 birds had perished.

Luckily for the birds, the goo was not found to be poisonous, and if the birds are taken in quickly, they can recover. “The birds tend to come into care needing hydration and medical stabilization, and we have a mandatory 24-hour stabilization process before cleaning,” spokeswoman Barbara Callahan of International Bird Rescue said.  

The birds are first treated for hypothermia and then the mystery goo is washed off with a mixture of baking soda, vinegar and a chemical agent. This mixture is then washed away with soap. “We're having to soften it, if you will, with first baking soda into the feathers and then taking that off with some household vinegar,” Callahan said. “We do use the toothbrushes just around the eyes and the mouth and the very delicate area.”

Despite the best efforts from workers at International Bird Rescue, 102 of the birds affected have died. However, after spending a week cleaning and treating them, the rescue has managed to release around 100 back onto the shore. Callahan said that the rescue was treating the birds as if they had been contaminated with oil. “Just like if it were an oil spill, it degrades their waterproofing. They’re all seabirds; they live on top of the water all year long. So as soon as they find that their waterproofing has been breached, they put themselves on the beach.”

There have been no more contaminated birds found since January 22, so it is thought that the mystery goo has now disappeared from the area.

Further reading

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