Webinar: Expanding the use of oil detection canines to detect oils submerged under freshwater
Presenter: Vince Palace, Head Scientist, International Institute for Sustainable Development's Experimental Lakes Area
Oil Detection Canines (ODCs) are very helpful with oil spill response surveys and operations. ODCs have been trained to respond only to a specific type of oil in the presence of multiple oil deposits and have successfully detected weathered oil targets on land buried 5 m below the surface. However, the ability of ODCs to detect submerged and sunken oil has not been investigated. To address this knowledge gap, a field study was conducted in Lake 260 at the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area in Northwestern ON, Canada. Deposits of three types of oil that sink in freshwater (weathered diluted bitumen-heavy crude mix, Bunker C and burn residue from Maya Crude) were placed at target locations on the lake bottom at 1, 3 and 5-m depths in triplicate. Poppy, a five-year-old English Springer Spaniel trained and certified as an ODC, and her trainer performed blinded searches from a boat. The trainer noted ODC alerts (detections) and matched to GPS coordinates of the targets and prevailing wind directions after conducting searches of 400-500m linear lake areas. Successful detections at 1, 3 and 5 m were noted for weathered dilbit-crude mix and Bunker C oils but not for burn residue. Our team will conduct additional testing of ODC detection of submerged oil at deeper target depths in open water and with oil under floating freshwater ice.
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