After the MV Rena oil spill, cleanup teams are currently working on removing the toxic wastes on the shore. Five hundred clean up personnel were out on the beaches on Thursday. They are clearing the coasts from Whangamata to Whakatane to assess the situation and check areas that need more attention.

Volunteers continue to help in shifting oil off the beaches. The number of concerned volunteers continues to increase and reached one thousand on Thursday morning. Maritime New Zealand instructed people not to clean their own for efforts need to be coordinated to ensure safety and proper practice.

Though MNZ stresses that it is indeed a hard manual work, they still accept volunteers to speed up their cleaning. To those who are interested to become a volunteer, call 0800 645 774.

To accommodate the increasing number of volunteers, MNZ created a website www.boprc.govt.nz/oilspillvolunteers that already have more than 2000 people registered. Coordinators formed a plan to assist the volunteers effectively.

Eighty kilometers of coastline were covered by 140 people on Thursday. They found 10 live oiled birds, making a total of 51 live birds in the facility. Thirteen dotterels, a rare type of bird, are already in captivity but none of them are oiled.

Eight little blue penguins are found on Motiti Island with three chicks. The chicks are not oiled and are all safe. They were taken to the wildlife centre after a crèche was set up for them.

Volunteers were able to collect quite a number of survivors. However, more animals were not able to survive. A total of 500 dead birds were identified Thursday afternoon.

Nick Quinn, the Commanderof National on Scene, and his team remain committed to get the job done on Rena’s second week.

"We are now coordinating a team of around 1000 people involved in operations on land, sea and air and covering areas like field operations, planning, logistics, wildlife recovery and community and Kiwi liaison," said Quinn.

"Everyone is working extremely hard to help out. Many have been here since the start and have put in some massive hours so we are looking to bring new people in to give others a break.”

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) still advices people to stay away from the beach since the smell of oil can cause discomfort. People were also advised to close their windows and avoid areas with oil if possible. For residents with public health concerns, call 0800 611 116 .