Who cares for oiled birds when no one's to blame?

[GLT]

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/544326/e634c9fbb2/1463038529/c2aa93aee4/

March 2, 2012

Dear Friends,

I am writing to ask for your support.

97 oiled Murres – penguin-like diving birds that spend most of their
lives at sea - have been brought to International Bird Rescue for care
over the last two months, and as of yesterday afternoon they are still
flooding in. Unlike the birds we hear about during high profile oil
spills, these birds are being oiled by a natural oil seep along the
Southern California coast, so public awareness is much more limited.
The danger, however, to the birds is identical. With no one else to
blame but Mother Nature, International Bird Rescue is asking its
friends to take action as these birds’ last line of defense.

Oil – whether it is spilled from a tanker or mixed up from the ocean
floor – interferes with birds’ ability to maintain their body
temperature by impairing the natural waterproofing properties of their
feathers and consequently their insulation from the elements, often
resulting in hypothermia.

These natural oil seeps occur most notably in the Santa Barbara
Channel near Coal Oil Point, which emits between 5,280 and 6,600
gallons of oil per day, and when this oil is stirred up each winter it
becomes particularly harmful to diving birds, like the Murres
currently filling our Los Angeles center.

We know that when we get birds from a natural seep in time they have a
good chance of survival. Some years we receive even more natural oil
seep birds than we do birds from a human-caused oil spill with a
responsible party to cover the cost of their care – and,
unfortunately, these birds don’t come to us with health insurance.

We have never seen this many oil seep Murres at once. Besides the 97
Murres, International Bird Rescue’s patients oiled from this event
have included three Common Loons, three Pacific Loons, three Western
Grebes, an Eared Grebe, a Surf Scoter, and a Rhinoceros Auklet.

Natural events like oil seeps, algal blooms, and even extreme weather
keep staff and volunteers at International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles
and San Francisco Bay Centers busy at least 10 hours a day, 365 days a
year.


Some of International Bird Rescue’s costs for natural seep events are
offset by support from California's Oiled Wildlife Care Network
through funding by the California Department of Fish and Game, but we
still bear the brunt of this responsibility every year and are asking
for donations at www.Bird-Rescue.org.

Thank you for making a gift today. It is help like yours that keeps us
ready to respond whenever there are birds in need.

Warmest wishes,

Paul Kelway
Executive Director
International Bird Rescue