Contracted Wildlife Workers Shed Some Light on Their Experiences in the Gulf of Mexico

Rebecca Dmytryk and Jay Holcomb, both wildlife workers from the IBRRC, one of the groups contracted  by British Petroleum to capture, clean and rehab birds in the Gulf of Mexico air some thoughts on their experiences while responding to the catastrophe.  In this article they address several of the issues that I witnessed and blogged about during my time covering the disaster in the Gulf.  They finally talk about being excluded from the capture efforts in the field by USFWS and LDWF as well as the near complete failure to search for, capture, or even look for affected wildlife at sea, closer to the site of the oil gusher.

This is a good and important read to begin to understand the wildlife response mission in the Gulf:

Santa Cruz Sentinel Article Found Here:

Also something to think about is an excerpt from a Florida wildlife rescue document.  Please examine the fifth line of the second section.  Why would there be ANY mention of “remaining visible in areas of heavy public use.”  It illustrates that much of the spill response was about P.R. , including the wildlife response.

Read more at American Birding Association – Gulf Coast Oil Spill