‘The Swans of Rotterdam’ video wins award

The three-minute video, ‘The Swans of Rotterdam’ by director Vincent Kruijt, was awarded first place during the virtual International Oil Spill Conference 2021.

The video depicts the rehabilitation of oil-contaminated swans after the Bow Jubail oil spill in Rotterdam harbour in 2018. The Dutch authority for Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) led the response, which saw hundreds of swans washed and rehabilitated. Rijkswaterstaat had just begun a five-year oiled wildlife preparedness programme, which included EUROWA training packages for Dutch responders. This enabled the involvement of EUROWA experts in the response, where Dutch wildlife experts were able to work closely with EUROWA experts from Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland and the UK, according to the jointly agreed EUROWA standards for the treatment of oiled wildlife.

The video was produced and put forward to the IOSC 2021 Film and Photo 2021 contest by SON-Respons coordinator Simone Jay. The video, a low budget production, was made possible through the support of Rijkswaterstaat and Sea Alarm and serves as a great illustration of an oiled wildlife response in action. Check it out on our website here.