Often, the phrase “oiled wildlife” evokes an image of birds covered with sticky, gooey oil, which are then washed, rehabilitated, and released. While this does occur, there is a broad range of animals potentially affected by a coastal oil spill besides birds, including sea turtles, marine mammals, alligators, and fish. It takes a range of expertise to locate, capture, and rehabilitate affected animals, and track all the information associated with those activities.

Organizations participating in the workshop included wildlife responders and experts from federal, state, and regional organizations, including NOAA Fisheries, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Network partners, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Division, Texas State Aquarium, and the Amos Rehabilitation Keep. Oil spill response agencies participating included NOAA‘s OR&R; U.S. Coast Guard; the workshop organizers—Texas General Land Office, the Corpus Christi Oil Spill Control Association, and Wildlife Response Services;  the Port of Corpus Christi; and a number of industry partners. 

This event is one of a series of activities in the Corpus Christi area this year, including an oil spill tabletop exercise and a wildlife branch specific exercise, all intended to better integrate all the elements necessary for an efficient, effective wildlife response.