tagged w/ Wildlife Rehabilitation
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"Brown pelicans and other seabirds often dive into the oil because the slick makes the water look calmer. If they are coated in oil, they will be unable to regulate their temperatures, leading to hyperthermia.
Plankton, tiny immobile organisms at the base of the food chain, can be killed by chemically dispersed oil.
All four species of sea turtles in the gulf are threatened or endangered. Some have already washed up ashore, and with numbers already low, it would be harder to rebuild the population.
Dolphins, which often follow boats to play, have been following response crews, getting near the slicks.
Shrimp and other shellfish are more vulnerable to oil and chemical dispersants because they are stationary, while some adult fin fish populations may be mobile.
Fish larvae are most at risk. Bluefin tuna, now spawning near the spill, are of particular concern. The Gulf of Mexico is one of only two nurseries in the world for bluefin tuna.
Sperm whales, which spend most of their time diving for prey, may come up in the slick as they reach the surface to breathe."
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/04/28/us/20100428-spill-map.html"Brown pelicans and other seabirds often dive into the oil because the slick... more
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GETTY IMAGES
A worker uses a shovel to remove an oil glob from the beach Thursday, July 1, in Biloxi, Mississippi.GETTY IMAGES
A worker uses a shovel to remove an oil glob from the beach Thursday,... more
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Brown pelican long a symbol of survival
By Wayne Drash, CNN
June 15, 2010 11:51 a.m. EDT
Photo: Oiled pelicans await treatment at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana.
(CNN) -- Long before the brown pelican came to symbolize the tragedy of the Gulf oil spill, the giant bird stood for something much greater: survival against all odds.
The state bird of Louisiana was nearly wiped out by pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet after decades of conservation efforts, the brown pelican just last year was removed from the endangered species list.
"At a time when so many species of wildlife are threatened, we once in a while have an opportunity to celebrate an amazing success story," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar declared on November 11. "Today is such a day. The brown pelican is back."
Now, eight months later, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stands on the deck of a boat near Pelican Island off the Louisiana coast. He's surveying efforts to protect the state's wetlands. He's ordered the National Guard to begin building barriers in the ocean to try to stop the oil from reaching shore.
Yet Jindal pauses to talk about the brown pelican. The recent images of pelicans, coated in BP oil like grotesque statues, have taken on the symbolism of the spill. Louisiana has long been known as the "Pelican State," with the bird gracing the state flag.
"Here's what's really sad," Jindal said. "For every one of those mother adult pelicans you're saving, there are many more back there that you can't get to. And for every mother pelican you're saving, there may be a nest, there may be eggs that can't be saved.
"And that's the tragedy in this: That for every animal we see, what's this oil doing to their young? What's this oil doing to their life cycles?"
The recovery of the pelicans, before the spill, was largely attributed to the ban of the toxic chemical DDT in 1972. The pesticide traveled down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Three species were most affected: the brown pelican, the bald eagle and peregrine falcon. A component of DDT accumulated in each of those birds and, as a result, it affected the strength of the eggs they laid.
"The result was that you had thinner egg shells in the nest. During incubation, all the species had the tendency to break the eggs more easily," said Dr. Doug Inkey, a senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation. "This resulted in a huge population decline in all three species."
The bald eagle, peregrine falcon and brown pelican were all listed on the endangered species list. In the case of the brown pelican, wildlife officials in Louisiana and Florida teamed up to help save the bird over a 13-year period. A total of 1,276 young pelicans were captured in Florida and then released at three sites in southeastern Louisiana, according to the Interior Department.
"When their populations were low, we brought in those brown pelicans from Florida," Jindal said. "Now, when we capture them oiled, clean them up and rehabilitate them, we have to release them back in Florida to get away from this oil."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has deployed more than 450 people across the Gulf to respond to the nation's worst environmental disaster. As of Monday, the oil threatened 36 National Wildlife Refuges. Nearly 1,200 birds have been saved, including 728 in Louisiana.
Ron Britton of the Fish and Wildlife Service gave a CNN crew a tour of the marsh islands near Grand Isle, Louisiana, a prime breeding ground where oiled pelicans have been spotted.
"What you're trying to do is get in and get those as quick as you can," Britton told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "But the ones you're missing have less chance each night you can't get back. And the ones we don't get back, we're pretty sure are going somewhere and not surviving."
Oil affects pelicans in various ways. The birds' feathers interlock in a way that helps regulate cooling and, when oil soaks their feathers, the birds lose the ability to do that, biologists say.
"Brown pelicans dive into the water for fish. As they break the water, that's one of the ways they contact the oil. Then, once it's on their feathers, the birds preen daily," said Jennifer Coulson, president of the Orleans Audubon Society.
"When they're preening, they ingest all the BP oil. And so, that's another way they get sick and die."
Inkey of the National Wildlife Federation added, "When they get back to their nests, then they rub some of the oil from their chests to their eggs -- and oil on eggs is not a good mix. It's usually deadly for the developing embryo."
Inkey recently visited a brown pelican-nesting habitat along the Louisiana coast. Hundreds of the birds lived together in nests about 6 feet high in mangrove trees along the shore. There were two layers of protective booms surrounding the island that were "close to being worthless."
"We saw more oil inside the booms than we saw outside the booms," he said. "It was surrounded by a bathtub ring of oil."
His first thought: What's going to happen to the pelicans this year?
What's this oil doing to their young? What's this oil doing to their life cycles?
--Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
"This is the worst-case scenario: It's during breeding season," he said. "We're likely to lose a whole generation of young of many different species. ... It only takes once for a bird to really get messed up in oil for it to have an effect on the nesting success."
He and other biologists said it's far too early to know the full effect of the oil spill on the larger population of brown pelicans -- and whether the bird would ever make it back to the endangered species list. "It would be premature to suggest that," Inkey said.
Biologists said the pelican -- known for its long beak with a hooked tip and its 6-foot wingspan -- is better equipped to survive than smaller birds that ingest oil in greater proportion to their size. In addition, there are five species of sea turtles in the Gulf, and all are endangered or threatened.
"A sea turtle hatchling does not stand a chance," Inkey said.
Regardless, it's a dire situation for all types of wildlife in the region, biologists said.
Yet it was the images of the oil-soaked pelicans that brought home the scope of the disaster -- and its potential devastating consequences. The birds survived DDT, the constant erosion of Louisiana wetlands and Hurricane Katrina.
Inkey already had returned from his visit when the photos first appeared. "I got sick in my stomach," he said. "I had seen oiled pelicans, but not like that. The ones I saw were simply gray. These were just heartbreaking."
He paused. "How do you explain a picture like that to young children and get them to understand that this is something, although unintentional, that man caused?"
CNN's Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd contributed to this report.Brown pelican long a symbol of survival
By Wayne Drash, CNN
June 15, 2010 11:51 a.m.... more
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Buras, Louisiana (CNN) -- The sign out front points the way: birds, please enter to the right; humans, enter on the left.
Huddled in a pen and covered in brown streaks of oil, a dozen pelicans await treatment after exposure to the pools of crude on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
Increasing numbers of birds are arriving at the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in this coastal Louisiana town as the environmental disaster in the Gulf stretches on. At least 50 birds were treated on Tuesday alone.
Wildlife workers say the birds get oiled when diving for fish. Their efforts at preening sometimes worsen the coating of crude on their feathers.
The lucky ones are found by state workers and volunteers in time to save their lives.
"The animals that are coming in are covered in oil," the center's Rebecca Dunne says. "But they are pretty healthy animals. So that makes us feel like like we have a chance to save them. We have been pretty successful so far."
While around 200 birds have been dead on arrival at the center, so far none of the 400 birds brought in alive have died.
But not all of them express their gratitude.
"If you let 'em loose, they'll bite ya," says one volunteer holding shut the bill of a brown bird tucked under his arm.
New arrivals get a physical, and a day to "de-stress." Next, it's time for a scrubbing. They're washed with Dawn soap, rinsed and dried.
Finally, it's out to the aviary pens out back -- labeled "pelican island" -- where they are kept for observation and recovery.
On Tuesday, top football stars from the Super Bowl-winning New Orleans Saints came out to thank the center's volunteers.
"It's all about doing whatever we can down here in south Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, to help these people come back," quarterback Drew Brees told CNN's John King.
After rehab, the birds are scheduled for release in Florida, where they are less likely to repeat their run-in with the spilled oil.
But not all birds are so lucky.
"For every bird they rescue, there are other birds that are oiled, but that they couldn't rescue," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says. "That is what is so heartbreaking to the people of Louisiana."
The latest Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection report says 380 oiled birds and 50 sea turtles have been rescued; 594 birds and 250 sea turtles have been found dead.
For better or for worse, more birds are being found and brought in each day. Workers are planning to build eight more receiving pens in the coming days to handle the increasing influx of winged guests.Buras, Louisiana (CNN) -- The sign out front points the way: birds, please enter to... more
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A short entry - AP Photographer Charlie Riedel just filed the following images of seabirds caught in the oil slick on a beach on Louisiana's East Grand Terre Island.
As BP engineers continue their efforts to cap the underwater flow of oil, landfall is becoming more frequent, and the effects more evident. (8 photos total)
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.htmlA short entry - AP Photographer Charlie Riedel just filed the following images of... more
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We heard that a higher than normal amount of dead sea turtles were washing up on Gulf Coast beaches, then nothing. Apparently, the marine biologists performing the necropsies are under contract not to disclose or photograph any of their findings.
Examination of dead sea turtles after BP's Gulf oil spill under gag order
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.We heard that a higher than normal amount of dead sea turtles were washing up on Gulf... more
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An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control with a faint sheen washing ashore along the Gulf Coast Thursday night as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.
The spill was bigger than imagined – five times more than first estimated – and closer. Faint fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines.
"It is of grave concern," David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press. "I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling."
The oil slick could become the nation's worst environmental disaster in decades, threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life. Thicker oil was in waters south and east of the Mississippi delta about five miles offshore.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/29/louisiana-oil-spill-gets_n_556444.htmlAn oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of... more
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PHOTO: Forecast location of the spill at 1800 CDT on Saturday 5/1/2010. The red color shows where oil will reach the shore. The Chandeleur Islands and Louisiana marshes will be affected.
This web site provides a place for people to volunteer to assist in cleanup operations related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Organizations working on the cleanup may register here to be connected with volunteers. OilSpillVolunteers.com will link volunteers with cleanup organizations; we will not be directing volunteer activities.
BP, Transocean, Homeland Security, USCG, NOAA, EPA, Department of the Interior - We need to hear from you. We have 2000 people eager to be trained and eager to jump into action when the oil comes ashore. How do they get training? What can they do to help with the cleanup? Help us.
Volunteers - Please register using this form http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/register.php . Provide complete as much of the form as possible and indicate whether your contact information can be shared directly with cleanup organizations. Please do not use email to provide your volunteer information.
Caution: Do not attempt oil cleanup work without training and the required safety equipment. The oil waste is a toxic material and can pose a threat. This OSHA http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/docs/OSHA_HAZWOPER_Oil.pdf handbook for oil spill cleanup will explain.
Cleanup Organizations Needing Volunteers - Please send email to don@OilSpillVolunteers.com describing your needs and activities.
***Please route all individual volunteer offers to the registration form here on the web.
We are receiving a large number of emails and calls and it's much simpler and more reliable to keep track of volunteers in the database linked to the form. We'd hate to misplace an email and lose contact with you.
If you've signed up and had a question - Please be patient, we'll be in touch as soon as possible.
For media information, please contact Melanie Allen - mailto:sglmma@cableone.net
Please pardon the rough format of this site; there's too much to do to worry about making it pretty. We'll soon be adding:
Mailing list information
List of cleanup organizations
Phone numbers to report oiled wildlife
Spill location and movement forecast
* Suggestions and assistance are welcomed.PHOTO: Forecast location of the spill at 1800 CDT on Saturday 5/1/2010. The red color... more
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