Wildlife Promise » pelicans

Photo of the Day: Squadron of Pelicans

Rachel Stemen — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:39:27 +0000

A large group (“squadron”) of American white pelicans and a few brown pelicans at sunrise

Photo by Flickr member erangissis
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Wildlife Victory! Congress Says BP Fines Must Help Restore Gulf

NWF — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:45:12 +0000

Thanks to the persistent voices of hundreds of thousands of wildlife advocates, Congress passed a Transportation Package that includes the potential for the largest investment in wildlife conservation in U.S. history and two very important wins for wildlife against Big Oil.

Congress Passes Gulf RESTORE Act

More than two years into the worst oil disaster in U.S. history, Congress passed the RESTORE Act today, which ensures that money from BP’s oil spill fines will be dedicated to Gulf Coast restoration.

This is a HUGE win for brown pelicans, dolphins and sea turtles that are still being impacted by the oil spill disaster that began in April 2010.

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Why was this bill so important? Under the Clean Water Act, BP could face as much as $20 billion in fines for its responsibility in the oil disaster.

“Once BP’s fines and penalties have been established, the RESTORE Act will represent one of the most important investments in natural resources in America’s history, a critically-needed commitment to Gulf Coast ecosystems and the people who depend on them,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “All of us now have the responsibility to make sure every dollar is invested in restoring the Gulf’s impacted communities and wildlife habitat.”

National Wildlife Federation and our members and supporters have been fighting for two years to make sure the Gulf gets the help it deserves. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this a reality!

Keystone XL Provision Rejected

The icing on the cake is that the legislation passed today does NOT include language that would have forced approval of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. This was a very real threat and would have put endangered whooping cranes and swift foxes at risk of toxic oil spills, while also driving a rapid expansion of habitat-destroying tar sands operations that could put the lives of thousands of Canada’s wolves and caribou at risk.

This tremendous victory for wildlife is a testament to how Americans can hold our elected officials accountable to protecting America’s wildlife.

Let’s go celebrate!

NWF Brings Wildlife To Conan

David Mizejewski — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:56:34 +0000

Last night was my latest appearance on Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show on TBS. As National Wildlife Federation naturalist, I bring wild animals on shows like Conan’s to help inspire people to join NWF and our mission to protect wildlife for our children’s future.

If you missed the segment, here it is, broken up into two clips. Conan as always is hilarious and the animals were awesome.

Which animal is your favorite? If I had to pick, mine has to be the baby jaguars or the black throated monitor lizard!

Click here to view the embedded video.

NWF Scientist Returns to the Gulf

Miles Grant — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:02:01 +0000

Dr. Doug Inkley, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior scientist, has returned to the Gulf Coast. It’s his third trip since the BP oil disaster began more than three months ago. Doug is quoted in this week’s Rolling Stone cover story on the disaster, The Poisoning:

From an environmental standpoint, the BP blowout could not have occurred in a worse place. The warm currents of the Gulf make it one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet, home to 1,200 species of fish, five species of endangered sea turtles, scores of mammals like bottlenose dolphins and millions of migratory birds. Even worse, the spill took place in “biological spring,” the moment when the entire Gulf comes to life – the migratory birds returning to nest, the sperm whales nudging along the edge of the continental shelf, the bluefin tuna laying their eggs, the pelican eggs cracking open in the rookeries. In the first three months alone, the spill has killed 1,978 birds, 463 sea turtles and 59 marine mammals – and that’s just the official tally.

“No list can ever do justice to what’s happening in the Gulf,” says Doug Inkley, a senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation. “The birds that get sick and die in the wetlands will never be found. And there are so many things we are not counting. Who is out there counting the mortality among deepwater squid, which are important to the survival of sperm whales? Who is out there counting the impact on plankton, which are key to the Gulf’s food chain?”

We’ll have much more from Doug’s latest trip to the Gulf as the week goes on.

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.

Not Just Cleaning Pelicans: Support Volunteers Needed in Gulf

Miles Grant — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:29:15 +0000

The Washington Post reports today there’s a huge need for volunteers in support roles in the BP oil disaster — but many of those roles are going unfilled:

“We struggle to get volunteers,” said Steve Lenahan, associate director of community centers for Catholic Charities. Volunteers are needed to help people, but most show up wanting to save birds and other wildlife, said Lexie Montgomery, volunteer coordinator for the National Audubon Society, which has accumulated 27,000 names in its volunteer database since the leak began.

“I have friends of mine in New York City who want to wash a pelican, and I was like, ‘You’ll probably hurt the pelican,’” Montgomery said. “When I was first in Venice, people were frantically driving down to help, traffic increased and I was noticing turtles getting run over.”

If people really want to help on the ground, they should be ready for a longer-term commitment, said Nancy Torcson, director of Clearwater Wildlife Sanctuary in Covington, La. The sanctuary has begun training 20 volunteers at a time to deploy for one-month rotations.

The most direct way to help people and animals is to donate money, Torcson said. Many people have been wary about doing this because of the manmade nature of the disaster, but children in Covington recently hosted lemonade stands to raise funds for the sanctuary to import live fish to feed distressed pelicans.

Not all of us know how to clean oiled wildlife, but we can do our part, either by volunteering or donating to provide support. That’s why NWF is organizing Gulf Coast Surveillance Teams — to help serve as the eyes & ears of rehabilitators by helping find oiled wildlife.

Help ensure NWF has the funding needed to be on the front lines helping wildlife >>

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.

If Birds Could Talk

Aislinn Maestas — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:50:27 +0000

Jaime Matyas is NWF’s Executive’s Vice President & Chief Operating Officer. She is in Louisiana this week with NWF’s on the ground team touring areas devastated by the oil spill. Here is the second report from her trip out on the water.

As we boated through Barataria Bay towards Cat Island, the sounds from the rookery were the first thing to catch our attention. As we got closer, you could see dozens of large brown pelicans, terns, egrets and roseate spoonbills, as well as many new hatchlings. The cacophony of the birds sounded as energetic as the hum of cheers that erupts along the sidelines of youth soccer matches on any spring weekend.

On the island we saw several oiled brown pelicans, two yellowed egrets and another two oil stained spoonbills.

We called the BP operated 1-800 rescue line only to be asked several times our address and the closest intersection. Really? Cat Island is at least 20 miles from the marina, there are no roads visible to the eye and certainly no nearby intersections. This is not the first time NWF has experienced this problem.

Next stop today, the bird rescue facility to understand how we can help improve the search, identification and rescue process.

Looking at Cat Island covered with birds, and only a fraction of its initial size due to subsidence in the absence of additional sediment inputs, looks like a life raft in the midst of open water. I wondered as I listened to the birds calling, if they were trying to tell us something.

Almost 75 years ago, Ding Darling with the support of President Roosevelt help found the National Wildlife Federation saying, “we have to talk for the ducks because they can’t.” I wondered what Ding Darling and President Roosevelt would think of this human caused disaster.

President Roosevelt once said:

“It is also vandalism to destroy or to permit the destruction of what is beautiful in nature, whether it be a cliff, a forest, or a species of mammal or bird. Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests, and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals… But at last it looks as if our people were awakening.”

Almost 100 years later, I can only hope that our people will do more than awaken, we must act.

You can see more photos from the trip on Flickr and more NWF videos on YouTube.

Help ensure NWF has the funding needed to be on the front lines helping wildlife >>

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.

Be Part of the Story – Join CNN Telethon Tonight 8 pm Eastern

Larry Schweiger — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:48:25 +0000

Wildlife have no voice unless we speak up for them. Join tonight at 8 pm Eastern on CNN’s Larry King Live telethon to help the wildlife, people and communities impacted by the BP oil disaster. While BP is responsible for this tragedy, we cannot wait for BP or the federal government to come to the rescue. Together we can all be part of the story to help the people and wildlife affected by this disaster.

Behind the Scenes of Oiled Bird Rehab (Video)

Miles Grant — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:00:57 +0000

Since the BP oil disaster began nearly two months ago, National Wildlife Federation staffers have spent hundreds of hours on the water off Louisiana, watching for impacted wildlife & helping bring their stories to light. We’re also working to organize Gulf Coast Volunteer Surveillance Teams to expand our network of eyes & ears in the disaster zone.

Once oiled birds are brought to shore in Louisiana, they’re taken to Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, just north of Venice. The birds are washed, rinsed & rehabbed by Tri-State Bird Rescue.

On Wednesday, National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski & I decided to stay on shore for the day. We visited Fort Jackson to get an inside look. As we entered the facility, I took out my Flipcam & just let it roll:

As our tour wrapped up, I caught up with David to get his impression:

Outside the rehab building, cleaned birds are then re-acclimated to the outdoors for 7-10 days before being released away from the disaster zone:

As I type, David is driving us to Myrtle Grove Marina for another day on the water. It’s good know that any wildlife we find will be in good hands.

Help ensure NWF has the funding needed to be on the front lines helping wildlife >>

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.

NWF Scientist Visits Nesting Grounds Hit Hard By BP Oil Spill

Miles Grant — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:45:07 +0000

Dr. Doug Inkley, certified wildlife biologist & senior scientist with the National Wildlife Federation, called me at 6:30am local time. He was heading down to Venice Marina for another long day on the water viewing the effects of the BP oil disaster, but before motoring out beyond cell service, Doug wanted to tell me about his day on the water yesterday, touring Cat Island near Grand Isle.

“How did it compare to what you expected to see?” I asked.

“Honestly, I expected to see booms protecting critical island nesting habitats and people maintaining those booms,” Doug told me. “But instead, I saw booms drifting around & breaking apart, oil ashore on the islands, and no responders or boats anywhere to be seen.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Doug described seeing a brown pelican with its wings dirtied by heavy brown oil. The bird was preening in an attempt to clean itself off. More pelicans were diving for fish not far from patches of “dispersed” oil.

“That bird now faces double jeopardy,” Doug said. “Even if it cleans itself and avoids hypothermia, it could be poisoned by the oil it swallows in the process.”

According to Doug, Cat Island currently has two rings of booms — an outer ring of inflatable boom designed to keep oil out (assuming seas are calm) & an inner ring of white absorbent material designed to soak up oil. But there’s already oil on the island — it either arrived before the booms did or got through them. The oil has been washed about half a foot up above the water line, coating & suffocating plants. Booms just aren’t designed to stand up to even mildly choppy seas — even small waves can wash oil right over them.

Doug also expressed concern for the next generation of pelicans. “The eggs are in the incubation stage right now. If oil gets on a pelican & rubs off on their egg, it’s usually toxic.

“And even if the eggs hatch and the chicks escape direct contact with the oil, the future for the colony is very uncertain,” Doug continued. “With marine life threatened by the oil as well, will their parents be able to find enough food to raise these chicks?”

Doug is back on the water today. Stay tuned for more reports.

Help ensure NWF has the funding needed to be on the front lines helping wildlife >>

For all the latest news on how the oil spill is impacting the Gulf Coast’s wildlife & to learn how you can help, visit NWF.org/OilSpill.