Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Defenders’ vice president of Communications Cindy Hoffman introduces “Heroes in the Gulf, ” a series dedicated to the the men and women who are working tirelessly to mitigate the devastating effects of oil on the Gulf coast and its wildlife. Join Defenders as we hear stories from people from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Fish and Game and more working at ground zero of the Gulf oil disaster.

The news is full of pictures of some of the victims of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster—oiled pelicans, gannets and shorebirds that have died, or in some cases, been rescued. But the list of birds in the path of the oil spill is long, and includes a number of “pelagic” species—those that spend most of their lives far out at sea, out of the public eye. The danger to them may be less visible, but it is no less real.

Oil can affect seabirds in a range of ways, including hypothermia or drowning caused by oil-coated feathers, exposure to oil fumes, and ingesting oil or toxic fish and marine invertebrates.

Read our factsheet to learn more about how seabirds will be impacted by the Gulf oil disaster.

For weeks now, scientists from many disciplines have been eager to get their first glimpse of the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the remotest corners of the Gulf of Mexico. Seabird biologists have been especially frustrated at being confined to shore – they well know that many of the marine birds most vulnerable to oil are only found far from land, well out of view. They needed a lucky break to get on the water, as the incredible demand for ships has made passenger space for scientists vanishingly scarce. Read the full story

Join Jamie Rappaport Clark on her latest trip to the Gulf to bear witness to the devastating consequences the oil spill is having on wildlife such as the brown pelican. In this video, Jamie visits Bird Island off the coast of Louisiana, a “magnificent pelican rookery” critically important to nesting birds in the region. Hear Jamie describe the effects the spill is taking on these birds, and the efforts of response teams trying to protect them.

It’s 100+ degrees in the Fort Jackson wildlife rehabilitation center, sweat is pouring down my face and back as I peer under the mesh cover of the pelican pen. Thirteen birds, all cloaked in burnt-orange oil, huddle in one corner of the pen. They are shivering.

The Fort Jackson facility consists of a warehouse and several mobile buildings, all geared toward housing, cleaning, and hopefully saving the lives of the myriad wildlife species that are covered with oil spilled from BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf.  Today, all of the facility’s patients are brown pelicans, a species just recently removed from the endangered species list. Read the full story

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On a Pensacola beach, with the oil sheen only 5 miles away, Defenders board members and NBC special correspondent Jeff Corwin tells MSNBC that while in the Gulf this week, friend Jamie Rappaport Clark told him, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this, it’s like armaggedon.’” Jeff discusses the heartbreaking rescue of wildlife such as brown pelicans, and what the spill means for Gulf habitat.