All of those heart-warming photo ops of volunteers scrubbing oiled pelicans are just that. Photo ops. According to Silvia Gaus, a German biologist who has studied oil spill rescue results, the post-rehabilitation survival rate for these birds is less than 1%.

BP, of course, loves to see such pictures on the front pages of our newspapers. It is a huge PR plus for them that helps massively to mitigate their monstrous crime in the eyes of the public. Don’t be deceived.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service stated in a 2002 report: “Studies are indicating that rescue and cleaning of oiled birds makes no effective contribution to conservation.”

In quoting the 1 per cent figure, Gaus was likely referring to the work of ornithologist Brian Sharp, who produced a 1995 study showing extremely low survival rates for certain types of oiled sea birds between 1969 and 1994. Oil companies’ support for rehabilitation, Sharp wrote, “should be considered a public relations effort.”

Some have experienced organ damage; some suffer from anemia; some are forever traumatized by the cleaning process; some return to their tarnished habitats and get oiled again, said Gaus.

(IBRRC photo)

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