We're all connected

[kambriel]

I know it's "a drop in the ocean" (or Gulf, in this case), but it's heartwarming to see those who are actively trying clean and rehabilitate birds in the region. I sent an email to Michael Ziccardi, a UC Davis veterinarian coordinating sea turtle and marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation efforts in the Gulf as to the possibilities of volunteering, but understandably got an auto-response, since he is hard at work on location now. **EDIT - Please see the bottom of this post for a response I just received.**

I also looked into the International Bird Rescue Research Center which isn't coordinating volunteers at this time, but they do have links to individual local state websites for volunteers, some of which include:

Louisiana ~ Oil Spill Response You can also call 800-755-5175 for more information.

Florida ~ Deepwater Horizon Volunteer Response

Alabama ~ Locals can report oiled wildlife to the listed phone #, and they will check messages hourly

If you're local to these areas (or even planning a trip to any of them in the near future), please follow the links and see if there might be some way to be of service.

Also, there is the:

National Wildlife Federation

Audubon Society Oil Spill Response Volunteer Registration


The detergent that apparently cleans oiled wildlife best, and what you see being used in the above rehab video, is simply Dawn dishwashing liquid. Pity it comes in plastic bottles (please be sure to recycle them), but you can get updates on their current efforts to save wildlife here: http://www.facebook.com/dawnsaveswildlife

Update: I just received this response from the email I sent this morning:

"Hello Kambriel,
I appreciate your concern and desire to offer any assistance you can. I believe that at this time they are attempting to use volunteers from the general geographic area of the spill. The best thing for you to do would be to call the volunteer hotline and give them your information so that in the event they need additional volunteers they would be able to reach you. The hotline phone number is 1-866-448-5816."

And last, but not lease, here is an excellent post with suggestions of other things we can do to help:
http://www.cheriepriest.com/2010/06/04/things-you-can-do-about-the-oil-spill/

Comments

[all-ephemera.livejournal.com]

I saw your last post and was actually coming back to share the Boston.com link with you, but you found it already.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Yes, badriyaz kindly shared it with me earlier this morning, but thank you so much for thinking of me with it. It does the heart good to see some actual help being done where possible.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

I deliberately bought a bottle of Dawn last week. The one that explicitly states that it donates to their wildlife fund (you have to enter the code on the back for it to be valid), just FOR that reason.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

The nice thing, is they were doing these efforts long before this particular tragedy happened. I readily admit that using otters, penguins and ducklings in a commercial don't hurt either:

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, which is what keeps me buying their product most of the time.

[icprncs.livejournal.com]

At the zoo--a non-profit org that like any non-profit has to be very conscientious of how they spend their money--the product used to wash the animals' food bowls is...Dawn. And this is why.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

That's great to hear. I believe conscientiousness is ultimately the key to so much.

[malusfemina.livejournal.com]

I am a Florida resident and vet tech and on "standby" for oiled wildlife. I know there are many roles volunteers can take in helping with this heartbreaking incident, however, if someone would like to work with wildlife directly there are a few more things they have to do.

Since oil is a hazardous material, the agency working with the wildlife effort requires that you take courses in FEMA ICS 100 ( I think ICS 200 as well, although I get conflicting reports on that) its a free self guided online course that takes about 3 hours.

http://training.fema.gov/is/searchIS.asp?keywords=ics+100&Submit=Search

It would also be a good idea to take a look at the Humane Society of America website and locate their online university. There are 2 courses on Animal diaster response that are online (free?) and a list of disaster training workshops that you can attend around the country. (there is one next weekend in Vero Beach for the Florida residents out there)

http://hsvb.org/updates.asp

I received all this info from my vet school so most of these were offered through them. But they said they were necessary in order to work directly with oiled wildlife. At any rate, these are just a few leads and bits of info worth checking out.

Thanks Kambriel for posting about this and encouraging people to help in someway. Along with most of the country, this whole thing has had the most profound effect on me. Its hard to stay composed when I see the pictures and read the news about the ecological and environmental impact this is having and will continue to have for a very long time.

Seeing the oiled animals suffering makes my heart literally hurt from grief.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you ~ those are some very helpful links and information! I'm glad you're on standby, and while it would be a fantastic thing if there were no such need, thank goodness you'll be able to add another pair of hands towards helping the affected wildlife.

I know what you mean about your heart literally hurting from it all. I've been sleeping very little, thinking about what those animals are going though... thinking about ones that are having to make such a conscious effort just to breathe, and how I can't imagine how they could possibly get any sleep whilst breathing so laboriously. As part of mankind, I just feel awful for what we've done to their habitat and lives.

Thank you again for *your* help, not even just now, but for all the help you're planning to continue to give other animals in the years to come ~ it's appreciated more than you could possibly know.

[missmorte.livejournal.com]

They said the same thing to me when I signed up last week. If they do the volunteer thing anything like after Katrina the best way to help is to go stay somewhere near where they need help and then sign up again telling them you are in town.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I guess they're going to try and put to work a lot of the area's unemployed as well, which makes sense. I hope that people who may have been planning to go to the region for a vacation anyway this year still will, but that they'll be willing to make it a working vacation instead. Much like after Katrina, and people would use their trips down their to help build new homes, etc...

[gothindulgence.livejournal.com]

THanks for this... after seeing your previous post, I was on the net looking for ways on how to help. A couple of years back we had a nasty oil spill, which really messed up the wildlife along the western cape coast line. A friend and I spent every free day we had at the Penguin sanctuary, we were on the food line after they had been cleaned up, to force feed them fish. Half of them didn't survive, oil also gets inside their guts ... was heartbreaking ... It took ages to clean up the mess - we even has to scrub down all the rocks along boulders beach.. and this was nothing compared to the mess now happening in Gulf... very very sad

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness half of the penguins *did* survive, in large thanks to all the care they received from people like you and your friend.

It's pretty overwhelming to think of how much oil is out there in the water now, and how much of it will keep coming ashore. I'm hoping with a massive volunteer effort it can keep being cleaned as best as possible as it happens, but it kind of makes me think of trying to shovel your sidewalk in the midst of a blizzard.

The birds that are being cleaned and rehabilitated are the lucky few, but I'm so grateful for every one that may be able to have a second chance. One of my biggest concerns though is the ones that are being released ~ they're releasing them farther away, but I wonder if they may just fly back to their original nesting areas, or if the oil may simply come ashore in the new area as well. In perfect idealism, I'd love to believe that those who were coated in it once, might somehow remember how it happened and what the oil looked like, and avoid diving into it if they see it again. A bit of wishful thinking...