Defenders of Wildlife Blog

As part of my job at Defenders, I continue to learn about the myriad tools we all have to help make wildlife management work in good times, and during crises like oil spills. I made a commitment after the heart-breaking BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to be a better citizen by becoming a certified Wildlife Sea Otter Responder. Recently, on a clear, crisp, cold Saturday, about 40 of us gathered in a windowless training room to spend the day with trainers from International Wildlife Research (IWR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Sea Life Center and the Alyeska/SERVS to get a first-hand look at what it takes to be a certified responder.

Sea otters are unique among arctic marine mammals since they rely on the thickness and distinctive make-up of their fur, rather than blubber, to keep them warm or cool and dry. They live in sea-ice covered coastal areas and spend considerable time floating on their backs, often eating shellfish or nursing and caring for their pups that, unlike the young of other aquatic mammals like seals, cannot swim when first born.

Most of us hope we never get that call to respond, because doing so would mean heartbreak and tragedy for sea otters, other marine life and coastal communities.

Sea otters require very specific round-the-clock care when oiled. Their survival and return to the wild depend heavily on certified Wildlife Sea Otter Responders both knowing their jobs and doing them correctly – the first time and every time.

The IWR team that leads these trainings includes scientists, veterinarians and wildlife specialists with expertise and real world experience in the care and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife. In fact, many of them are actual veterans of the infamous Exxon Valdez Spill in Prince William Sound in 1989. IWR has provided expertise for preparing and executing oil spill response operations for sea otters and other marine and land mammals for over 15 years.

Karla Dutton and vet tech Willow are demonstrating the proper taping technique to put on XL-sized protective equipment.

As I embarked on the 9-hour training, I was struck by not only the complexity of the course, but also the very real and serious commitment I was making by being there. After much coffee, careful listening to lectures and participating in a number of team problem-solving sessions, we were deemed ready for any oil spill emergency that might come our way. As a result, I now have my certificate and am on the national register of first responders.

The course and the online training and exam are well worth your time if you feel motivated to be part of a group who could be called in to help wildlife in an oil spill someday. Most of us hope we never get that call to respond, because doing so would mean heartbreak and tragedy for sea otters, other marine life and coastal communities. But 40 more people are now prepared if the phone rings.

Learn more about sea otters and what Defenders is doing to protect all wildlife  from the threat of oil spills.

Below is some exciting news from our friends over at the National Zoo!  Defenders of Wildlife, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and 5 other zoos around the country have partnered on The Panama Amphibian Rescue project, created to capture frogs that are directly in the path of chytrid fungus, an epidemic which is wiping out frog populations across the globe, and keep them safe until they can be once again be returned to the wild.

National Zoo and Partners First to Breed Critically Endangered Tree Frog

As frogs around the world continue to disappear—many killed by a rapidly spreading disease called chytridiomycosis, which attacks the skin cells of amphibians—one critically endangered species has received an encouraging boost. Although the La Loma tree frog, Hyloscirtus colymba, is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is the first to successfully breed this species.

“We are some of the first researchers to attempt to breed these animals into captivity and we have very little information about how to care for them,” said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, one of nine project partners. “We were warned that we might not be able to keep these frogs alive, but through a little bit of guesswork, attention to detail and collaboration with other husbandry experts—we’ve managed to breed them. The lessons we’re learning have put us on target to save this incredible species and our other priority species in Panama.”

Nearly one-third of the world’s amphibian species are at risk of extinction. The rescue project aims to save more than 20 species of frogs in Panama, one of the world’s last strongholds for amphibian biodiversity.

The rescue project currently has 28 adult La Loma tree frogs and four tadpoles at the Summit Municipal Park outside of Panama City, Panama. In addition to the La Loma tree frog, the project also has successfully bred the endangered Limosa harlequin frog, Atelopus limosus. Keepers will continue to carefully monitor the tadpoles of both species.

Nearly one-third of the world’s amphibian species are at risk of extinction. The rescue project aims to save more than 20 species of frogs in Panama, one of the world’s last strongholds for amphibian biodiversity. While the global amphibian crisis is the result of habitat loss, climate change and pollution, chytridiomycosis is likely at least partly responsible for the disappearances of 94 of the 120 frog species thought to have gone extinct since 1980.

“Although the outlook for amphibians is grim, the rescue project’s recent developments give us hope for these unique Panamanian species,” said Roberto Ibáñez, local director of the project and a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, one of the project’s partners. “We are creating what amounts to an ark for these animals so that their species may survive this deadly disease. We’re also looking for a cure so that someday we can safely release the frogs back into the wild.”

Of Panama’s six harlequin frog species, five are in collections at the Summit Zoological Park and the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center in El Valle, Panama. One species, the Chiriqui harlequin frog, A. chiriquiensis, from western Panama, is likely extinct. The other species range from being extinct in the wild—the Panamanian golden frog, A. zeteki—to being endangered.

The mission of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is to rescue amphibian species that are in extreme danger of extinction throughout Panama. The project’s efforts and expertise are focused on establishing assurance colonies and developing methodologies to reduce the impact of the amphibian chytrid fungus so that one day captive amphibians may be reintroduced to the wild. Project participants include Africam Safari, Panama’s Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Defenders of Wildlife, El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, Houston Zoo, Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Summit Municipal Park and Zoo New England.

For more information, photos and a new video about this work, visit www.amphibianrescue.org.

Yesterday, the Huffington Post featured a great blog by Rick Cleveland, Emmy-winning television writer, playwright and monologuist. In the piece, titled The Sound and the Fury of Tiny Flippers, Cleveland described his horror at the Gulf oil disaster, and relentless need to help clean up the mess. His determination took him from spectator, to funding relief efforts to providing on-the-ground assistance with turtle nest relocation.

A few nights later found Cleveland at the Emmy’s, where George Clooney mentioned the need to keep disasters like Katrina, Haiti, Pakistan, and the BP Oil Spill in the media and at the forefront of public consciousness.

Agreeing, Cleveland wrote, “As we move past the acute phase of the Gulf Disaster, and more and more people start swallowing more and more of BP’s public relations campaign/legal defense preview, we need to remind ourselves that the worst effects of the Exxon Valdez Spill were the long term effects – effects on both human and wildlife populations that are still being felt deeply to this day. According to government estimates the Deep Water Oil Spill is easily more than twice the size of the Exxon Valdez Spill.”

Read the full entry on Huffington Post.

See how you can help make a difference.

Defenders continues to be impressed with people across the country who are finding creative ways to bring attention to the oil tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico that has taken the lives of thousands of animals  and contaminated the region’s natural habitats.

One Eyed Rhyno, a musical group comprised of brother and sister James and Elaine Hunter and longtime friend, Andrew Daniels. Their mission is to rock with a cause.  These teens are not only turning heads with their sound, but also with their drive to do something.
 
Their single, “The Bird,” addresses the devastating and deadly conditions that impact wildlife after an oil spill. The band’s lead singer, James, originally wrote the song when he was 10 years old after learning about the Exxon Valdez spill. In the aftermath of the Gulf oil disaster, he decided to record the song and release it to raise awareness and money to help restore the area’s devastated ecosystem.

Find out what you can do to help save wildlife and prevent the next offshore drilling disaster.

Last night, Canadian TV’s news staff got on the phone with Richard Charter, offshore drilling expert and senior policy adviser at Defenders of Wildlife, to hear what he had to say about the explosion of the Vermilion 380, an offshore drilling platform owned by Mariner Energy of Houston.

After monitoring the aftermath of the explosion almost 100 miles south of Louisiana, Richard said, “Everyone is relieved that 13 workers were rescued safely from the waters, but in terms of environmental consequences it’s too early to tell.”

He told CTV of the company that owned the rig, “Mariner Energy since 2006 has had nine reported incidents in the Gulf of Mexico, including four fires and one blowout. There are these smaller events consistently throughout the Gulf of Mexico that we don’t usually hear about because they don’t occur – by coincidence – on the same day, today, that BP experts were removing the capping stack from the Deepwater Horizon Macondo well.”

The current moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would not have affected this rig, drilling at only 340 feet. Richard said, “The event today of course highlights that there are inherent risks of accidents in offshore drilling activities in any water depth.”

“We need to either make this activity safe or decide there are going to be  parts of hte planet that are too environmentally sensitive to go ahead with high risk drilling – the Arctic is of course one of  them. We’re getting some hard lessons as a society here.”

See the full interview here.

What you can do:

Write a letter to the editor. The House of Representatives has passed legislation to help protect our wildlife by improving safety and accountability in offshore drilling, but the Senate has yet to act. Help encourage your senators to act by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

Support our work. Your tax-deductible donation will help us protect sea turtles and other wildlife from the dangers of reckless offshore drilling.

Post by Shannon Miller, coordinator for Defenders’ Florida program.

On Saturday, August 21st, over 35 members and staff from Defenders of Wildlife and Ocean Conservancy met at the South Skyway Fishing Pier in Palmetto, Florida for another successful “Coastline Cleanup.” In less than four hours, participants collected over 2,000 pounds of marine debris and trash! A cleanup effort at the same site three months ago collected a similar amount.

Beach cleanups make a big difference for our community and our wildlife. Each year, hundreds of animals such as birds, sea turtles, manatees and dolphins are injured, maimed or killed by marine debris in the Tampa Bay area alone. Removing the debris from beaches and coastal waters is the best way to eliminate this deadly threat, and also prevents the debris from becoming hazardous material should it come into contact with oil – requiring a much more complicated and dangerous cleanup process.

We still do not know the extent of the harm that the millions of gallons of oil and toxic dispersants from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster will have on our marine environment and wildlife. But by cleaning up the coastline now, we hope to give Gulf wildlife a fighting chance for survival. Thank you to all of our volunteers that came out on Saturday, we truly appreciate your help, without you this event would not be possible. We thank you and especially our wildlife thanks you!

Stay tuned for our next cleanup by checking the Event Calendar on the Defenders of Wildlife website and please make sure you are on our email list.

To find out how you can help protect wildlife in the Gulf no matter where you live, visit www.gulfoilspillrecovery.org.