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State expert looks to aid oil-drenched animals

June 24, 2010 12:35 am

SEEING dolphins jumping and div- ing through water with an oily sheen was just the start.

That was followed by the sight of oil-covered gulls and pelicans being cleaned at an animal rescue hospital, which often received the animals too late to save them.

But on a recent six-day trip to do a damage assessment on wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico, Ed Clark--co-founder and president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia--experienced things that hit even harder.

Like the hermit crab he picked up on one of the barrier islands off Louisiana.

"When I looked under the shell, the animal was fighting for its life to get the oil off of it," said Clark, who was part of the assessment team at the invitation of the Humane Society of the United States. "It was terrible."

Even worse, he said, was a scene he witnessed from the deck of an oil-rig supply boat the team hitched a ride on out into the Gulf.

There, he said, an effort was under way to rescue sea turtles from the thick floating beds of seaweed that provide cover and habitat.

Clark said that while the team of scientists and wildlife experts from the United States and Canada watched, two shrimp boats towing a large boom filled with oil chased the rescuers off, and--with turtles still in the water--encircled the oil-covered seaweed beds and set fire to it all.

Clark, who has been with the nationally recognized wildlife hospital for 27 years and has been doing environmental work for more than 30, said the team saw a lot in a short amount of time.

From the open door of a helicopter cruising at 300 feet, from the deck of the oil boat and on side trips, Clark and others on the team visited beaches, bayous and marshes that have been stained by the oil spill in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

They met with colleagues working at wildlife rehabilitation centers to save turtles and birds. Clark also met with a variety of federal, state and local officials, as well as representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Coast Guard.

Sent in to help assess the short- and long-range impacts of the spill on wildlife and to assess the system in place to help injured and threatened animals, Clark said a consensus was reached by many on the team on needed changes.

They include:

Allowing wildlife rehabilitators and officials from zoos and hospitals--"people who actually know how to handle sick or injured animals"--into affected areas. Currently, only those from certain federal agencies and groups contacted by BP can handle an animal injured or threatened by the spill.

A rapid start to monitoring of wildlife and their habitat to assess damage, both short- and long-term.

That wildlife organizations need to counsel the public against misplaced efforts to send things such as dish-washing detergent and paper towels to the Gulf. Clark said his group has received calls from people ready to do that.

"This isn't a natural disaster like Katrina. It's one caused by BP and BP needs to pay for things like that if they're needed," he said.

Besides, he said, if materials like those are needed, it's simpler and more cost-effective for rescuers there to purchase those materials in bulk onsite, foregoing all those shipping costs.

Clark said he and others in the wildlife community realize that any volunteers and wildlife experts who come down to the Gulf to help would need to be overseen and coordinated by the unified command system.

And he said there's also the realization that they would need to be trained to cope with dangers presented by the oil and other hazardous materials.

"But the bottom line is that we've got hundreds of wildlife rehabilitators and others with wildlife experience who want to go help and could leave tomorrow," he said.

The critical thing, he said, is having people like that who can get injured animals from the beaches and bayous back to the excellent treatment facilities already set up.

"The Coast Guard seems to get it," Clark said of the many players in the process. "We heard some officials say they'd like to have a qualified wildlife person on every boat they send out because they're seeing injured animals everywhere they go."

Right now, he said, they can only call in reports.

Which, Clark noted, are often ignored or acted on long after help could have made a difference.

For a day-by-day account of Clark's visit, go online to wildlifecenter.org and select "Trip to Gulf Coast."

Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com