We are now coordinating a team of around 1,000 people involved in operations on land , sea and air and covering areas like field operations , planning , logistics , wildlife recovery and community and iwi -LSB- indigenous Maori people -RSB- liaison , '' said National On Scene Commander Nick Quinn . MNZ said that 500 dead birds have been found following the oil spill . The agency said 140 people scoured the coast yesterday for wildlife affected by the spill and 51 oiled animals are being treated at a center that has been set up in Tauranga . A team has been established to capture seals and five of the animals are being kept in captivity . Greenpeace has expressed `` extreme concern '' about the spill and urged the government to avoid using further toxic dispersants . `` This is an unfortunate illustration of just how difficult it is to deal with oil spills at sea , '' the organization 's Steve Abel said . `` Even a slow and relatively accessible oil spill like this one has clearly stretched New Zealand 's response capability to its limits , '' he said . `` It is also a
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A major clean-up operation is underway along the north coast of New Zealand 's North Island as debris and oil leaking from a cargo ship that ran aground on a reef wash ashore , officials say . The Rena , a Liberian-flagged vessel , struck the Astrolabe Reef , about 12 nautical miles off the city of Tauranga , last week . New Zealand 's oil spill response agency , Maritime New Zealand -LRB- MNZ -RRB- , estimates that as much as 300 tonnes of fuel oil has leaked from the vessel , which was carrying 1,700 cubic meters -LRB- 450,000 gallons -RRB- of fuel . The country 's environment minister , Nick Smith , has called the spill New Zealand 's most significant maritime environmental disaster . As of Friday , clean-up teams collected 95.45 tonnes of solid waste and 6 tonnes of liquid waste from beaches in the Bay of Plenty , MNZ said . About 60 kilometers of coastline , from the towns of Maketu to Mount Maunganui , is contaminated with oil , the agency said . Pubic access to some waterfront areas has been restricted due to health concerns . ``