Don't listen to Cramer, Short BP.
I contacted BP to connect them with personal contact who is a volunteer (Pat Smith) and wild bird rescue expert at the Seabird Sanctuary in Tampa. I suggested to the BP Emergency Team they get a news reporter to go interview her or the vet or ornithologists there. BP could post the instructions on their website. This center is run only by volunteers and is the largest in the Gulf. They do not have facilities large enough for a disaster such as this, but the public could help.
Information can be disseminated about how residents should collect the birds therefore the survival ratios will be higher. I imagine persons living in coastal communities in the Gulf could gather plastic baby pools and follow instructions to gather birds which will be covered in oil. Keeping the birds calm is the most important.
Shock and Stress kill wild birds. Some oiled birds will be sick from toxic effects of ingesting oil, or by exhaustion/starvation. It is important to keep the birds calm and not get deydrated. The bird should not be restrained or prevented from biting by binding its wings, legs, or beak.
A diluted one percent solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid is used to remove oil, but the process of cleaning a wild bird can also kill the bird from the stress.
Donations for food, medicine and care of the wild birds is urgently needed please contact:
http://www.seabirdsantuary.com/
Photo credit: Exxon Valdez Trustee Council
Twenty years later ( 1989) Prince William Sound Council is still tracking the health results of this disaster.
