"Skittle" resting comfortably in our quarantine area - photo courtesy of Tim Lebling
Earlier this week, we received our first stranded sea otter in 2009 - a cute young guy now nicknamed Skittle. He seems to be in good shape and is receiving the usual amazing veterninary care from our talented and dedicated stranding and husbandry team. Much of that care is based on the lessons that our team has learned over the past 20 years since the Exxon Valdez disaster.
I have learned that it really is worth spending time with Dr Pam Tuomi who was one of the first qualified veterinary reponders after the Exxon Valdez grounded. She has a wonderful way of describing the way in which the response teams learned to rescue and care for stranded marine life such as sea otters - the scale and challenge of their work was unprecedented and so with true Alaskan 'can do' spirit they learned much that informs contemporary marine animal care... that knowledge is one of the under-recognized legacies of the spill.
However, one could question whether the Alaska community would be any better prepared to respond to another oil spill involving Skittle or his brethren. That question was at least partly addressed in publication this week by the World Wildlife Fund entitled 'Lessons not Learned: 20 years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska' and subtitled "Little has changed in how we respond to oil spills in the Arctic" (available at - http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/howwedoit/policy/WWFBinaryitem11907.pdf
The report suggests that if another Valdez spill happened again, we'd be little better prepared than we were 20 years ago which seems to be an indictment of the millions of dollars invested in response preparedness since the spill. The report does not talk in detail about Alaska's response capacity in relation to marine animals, but it is notable that unlike other states, there is only a very limited and under-funded marine mammal response capacity. The SeaLife Center's response program is funded on soft money only.
To address this issue and help make a stronger case for greater investment in marine animal stranding response capacity, the SeaLife Center plans to hire an intern this summer to work with Dr Pam and her team to assess what more could be done.
What do you think? How might we ensure there is always someone at the end of the line when another Skittle stranding is called in?
I'm a little disappointed that we are not doing anything, or involved with any of the efforts to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the EVOS. EVOS is our history, and why we exist. Lessons were learned about responding to a crisis, and these lessons can be applied to future crises- whether they be acute, like another oil spill, or chronic, like climate change. Some of these lessons were that there is a huge need for long-term monitoring, to serve as baseline measures, and for comparison in the event of another acute crisis. As we move forward with new research directions and new sources of funding, we shouldn't forget the lessons that can still be learned from the past.
ReplyDeleteClearly a strong network of volunteers is a MUST.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't know of EVOS commemorative activities located at the Center, ASLC is definitely involved with several of the activities. Staff are today in Anchorage at the zoo participating in an all-day event there, and it looks like they will be back Monday-Tuesday for school field trips to the zoo from Anchorage School District. On Tuesday, there is an all-day "multi-community commemoration with venues held in a number of the Exxon Valdez Oil spill affected communities" -- including Seward, Events will be connected by video conferencing in the Rae Building. Dr. Pam and Darryl will be participating from Seward 3:45-4:45pm. Hope to see you there!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be valuable to have EVOS-funded research done at ASLC highlighted on our website. This would not only raise the profile of our science, but we could tie it to the need for increased funding for spill response/animal treatment and potentially use it as a rehab fundraising mechanism.
ReplyDeleteThanks for these great suggestions - fyi - we are meeting the EVOSTC Interim Director this week again to further discuss how we might again work together better (things have slipped over the past few years).
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