Wildlife rescue teams ready for U.S. oil spill victims

Saturday, May 01 2010 @ 12:40 PM EDT

Contributed by: jkr

That bird, recovered offshore on Friday and taken to an emergency rehabilitation center to be cleaned up and nursed back to health, is only the tip of a potential calamity facing the region's birds, sea turtles and marine mammals.

Besides the rescued Gannet, and several sperm whales seen swimming in and around the oil slick earlier, no "confirmed animal impacts" have been reported, yet, Dr. Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian overseeing some of the wildlife rescue teams in the region, said in a telephone interview from Houma, Louisiana.

But, he added soberly: "That is not going to stay the same. We are expecting many more (casualties) in the days to come. We hope that number is not catastrophic. We're ... hoping for the best but planning for the worst."

(Reuters) - The first known wildlife casualty of the massive oil spill threatening the U.S. Gulf Coast was a single Northern Gannet seabird, found alive but coated in the toxic grime creeping ashore along Louisiana's coast.

Volunteers recruited to help in oil spill threat

Friday, April 30 2010 @ 10:10 PM EDT

Contributed by: terrytvgal

Source: cnn.com

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Conservation groups seek volunteers to help in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida
Audubon Society making Center for Birds of Prey available for bird cleansing and rehabilitation
Deep Water Horizon response team looking for help in identifying affected animals

(CNN) -- Efforts to minimize the damage from the huge oil spill from last week's rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico are under way, but wildlife conservation groups say the oil could pose a disaster for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coastal areas.

How can you help? A number of organizations are recruiting volunteers.

Oil threatens Louisiana shore

Friday, April 30 2010 @ 12:43 PM EDT

Contributed by: jkr

CBC News April 30, 2010

Birds fly above land in Breton Sound off the coast of Louisiana on Thursday, while containment booms are in place to try to keep the oil spill at bay. (Liz Condo/Associated Press)

Traces of oil from a massive and growing spill in the Gulf of Mexico have reached the coast of Louisiana, which is in a state of emergency to help prevent catastrophic environmental damage.

Faint fingers of oil sheen began lapping at the state's shoreline on Thursday night while thicker oil hovered about eight kilometres offshore. Oil is expected to wash ashore in Mississippi on Saturday before reaching Alabama on Sunday and Florida on Monday.

US oil leak worse than expected

Thursday, April 29 2010 @ 05:36 AM EDT

Contributed by: terrytvgal

The US Coast Guard says five times as much oil as previously thought could be leaking from a well beneath where a rig sank in the Gulf of Mexico last week.

Rear Admiral Mary Landry said 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) a day were now thought to be gushing into the sea 50 miles (80km) off Louisiana's coast.

A third leak had also been discovered at the site, Adm Landry said.

Earlier, a Coast Guard crew set fire to part of the oil slick, in an attempt to save environmentally fragile wetlands.

The "controlled burn" of surface oil took place in an area about 30 miles (50km) east of the Mississippi river delta, officials said.

Weather forecasters have meanwhile warned that changing winds could drive the oil slick ashore by Friday night.

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Oil Leak Worse than Expected

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Coast Guard to try burning oil slick off Louisiana coast

Wednesday, April 28 2010 @ 03:14 PM EDT

Contributed by: jkr

By the CNN Wire Staff

April 28, 2010 9:29 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard will attempt to burn off portions of an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, a U.S. Coast Guard official said, as the pool of crude began to encroach on sensitive ecological areas in the Mississippi River Delta.

The option was one of several that Coast Guard officials were considering as the slick moved to within 20 miles of the Louisiana coastline.

Marine life has been spotted in the area. Over the weekend, a plane from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sighted five small whales nearby.