Overview

• On July 28, the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC released a glaucous-winged gull that volunteers found impaled on a wooden barbecue skewer at White Rock beach.
• A veterinary technician used X-rays to locate the skewer just millimetres from the bird’s trachea and removed it surgically before administering antibiotics, pain relief and a soft diet.
• This marks the second barbecue-skewer impalement case treated by the association in two years, highlighting a recurring hazard along British Columbia’s coast.
• Co-executive director Coleen Doucette described the gull’s successful first glide as bringing the rescue team “a tremendous amount of joy.”
• The association is urging beachgoers to pick up and properly dispose of all trash to prevent similar wildlife injuries.