Skip to main content

Be a Marine Mammal Hero

Hungry pups like elephant seal Davey are pouring through our doors. Yes, we are in the swing of pupping season, and that’s why your help is urgently needed.

What if I told you there’s a simple way you can have double the impact for good?

Today, your gift will help provide what a pup like Davey needs: double the fish meals to regain his strength for a second chance at life. How? Because your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000 when you give by Sunday, June 1.

Double my impact!
Elephant seal pup, Davey
bottlenose dolphin

Marine Mammal Response Operations During the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

  • Pollution

Abstract

When the Mississippi Canyon-252 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill occurred in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, wildlife professionals were quickly mobilized to assess, recover, and treat oiled marine mammals as part of the Incident Response operating under the Unified Command. There were significant challenges associated with the crisis, including the sustained response to a prolonged, uncontrolled oil release (from a deepwater wellhead rather than a controllable and finite source like a tanker); the large geographic scale of the oiled area and thus the response effort; and ensuring effectiveness without the benefit of previous experience of cetacean response in oil spills. The response phase for this spill lasted from April 2010 to May 2011, and the mobilization of field teams resulted in the confirmation of 13 live and 178 dead stranded cetaceans across 4 states and offshore waters. Four primary care centers were coordinated to de-oil animals, and additional facilities and personnel were mobilized to augment and support the effort. Numerous protocols were implemented to ensure appropriate animal care as well as documentation and sample collection, informing both response and Natural Resource Damage Assessment decisions. Additional efforts included the implementation of a wildlife observer program integrated into oil recovery operations (skimming and in situ burns) and behavioral observations of nearshore cetaceans. The unprecedented effort resulted in the first rehabilitation of an oiled dolphin and the coordination of a very large-scale response, with important information collected, and lessons learned for future oil spills in marine mammal habitat.


Wilkin, S.M., Rowles, T. K., Stratton, E., Adimey, N., Field, C.L., Wissmann, S., Shigenaka, G., Fougeres, E., Mase, B., Southeast Region Stranding Network, Ziccardi, M. H. 2017. Marine mammal response operations during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Endangered Species Research. 33: 107-118.

pollution
Cara Field

Meet The Experts

Related Publications

Related News