HOUMA, La.- With large numbers of birds being rescued, treated, and relocated in the Gulf States as a result of the BP oil spill, people seeing banded birds are asked to report sightings. As part of this unprecedented unified response to the BP oil spill, we are asking the public to help report oiled wildlife, as well. A large percentage of captured birds are being successfully treated and released back into the wild.  These birds are being fitted with leg bands that provide identifying information to assist Federal scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey and other organizations in studying these birds after release.
Scientific information being collected from this oil spill will expand the scope of knowledge that bird researchers and other scientists will have in the future to help ensure the health of migratory birds.  Among other information, scientists will learn the extent to which released birds return to their original habitat.

Birds are released only after wildlife specialists determine they are sufficiently prepared and exhibit natural behavior including waterproofing, self-feeding, normal blood values, and are free of injuries or disease. They are released in appropriate habitats where human disturbance is minimal. While the birds are often released in the Gulf area, they are released as far as possible from areas affected by the BP oil spill. Choosing release sites is complicated; biologists want to make sure that birds are released into the same populations from which they came, but with as little risk of getting re-exposed to oil as possible.

All birds released from rehabilitation are banded for identification purposes.  Ultimately, scientists use information gleaned from reports of banded birds to help answer a host of questions.  Among those questions are:  How long do formerly oiled birds survive?  Where do the birds travel?  Do immature birds select locations different than breeding-age adults?  Do captured birds return to the area where they were captured? Do rehabilitated birds breed in future nesting seasons – and where?   

Birds from the BP oil spill are banded with metal federal leg bands with a unique ID number.  In addition, brown pelicans also receive a large color leg band. Three colors of leg bands are being used:

• Orange bands with no identification numbers or letters.

• Red bands with identifying numbers and letters.

• Pink bands with identifying numbers and letters.

July 2, 2010

July 3, 2010

Before the tourists come to swim or the residents walk their dogs, the beach at Alligator Point is greeted by the presence of Bill Wargo. Sand coats his black shirt, soaked from a morning downpour, but the 71-year-old Alligator Point resident doesn't seem to mind. His focus is on the beach, as he rides his yellow and black ATV down, scanning the sand for signs of sea turtles.

But Thursday, and for most of the past month, Wargo has had something else to be on the lookout for oil.

"We would likely be the first ones to see it," he said about his Alligator Point Sea Turtle Patrol team of more than 20 volunteers, which rides the seven-and-a-half miles of beach that make up Alligator Point and Phipps Preserve daily.

Though prepared to help remove oiled wildlife and sea turtle nests if it comes ashore, Wargo said, so far, he's seen no signs of oil.

But what he has seen of the sea turtles could be related.

"What is different about this year is we have had 14 crawls (when turtles come ashore to build a nest) and only one is an actual confirmed nest," said Wargo, who's been patrolling the beaches since 2003. "I have never had that many crawls without having more confirmed nests."

Wargo said usually half of the crawls are determined false, meaning a turtle digs a nest, but leaves without laying eggs. This year, eight crawls have been determined false. The other five are considered unconfirmed because no nest has been located.

"That doesn't mean they won't come back," said Wargo, noting that most sea turtles tend to go back to the same beach they were born to lay their eggs. "My theory is maybe because the oil spill is to the west, and since turtles come to us from the west maybe they are trying to get away from that oil. Maybe they are exploring these beaches for the first time and checking it out."

Sea turtles build a nest by crawling into the dunes and digging a 1- to 2-foot-deep hole in the sand. They lay about 50-200 eggs depending on the species. On average, it takes about 60 days for the eggs to hatch, after which the baby sea turtles dig their way out of the pit and make their way back to the ocean. The height of the May-to-October nesting season is usually between June and July at Alligator Point.

"I'm not surprised," said Jack Rudloe, director of the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea. "Everything is upset out there."

In the past month, Rudloe said he's not only heard reports of a larger than normal number of sea turtles offshore, but he said he's seen firsthand the effects of the spill and use of dispersants via fish kills, large amounts of dead razor clams and crabs coming ashore due to low oxygen conditions.

Alligator and Bald Point areas are designated Tier 3 sites, sites that have the highest priority in the Franklin County Boom Contingency Plan. A newly revised boom deployment map for our area will be posted once it gets vetted by the state.

The plan provides for 7000 additional feet of boom.

It is advised that boat owners have a plan for their boats in the event that hard booms are deployed at the mouth of Alligator Harbor to prevent oil from entering Alligator Harbor.

If hard boom deployment is ordered there may be less than 72 hour notice of this action. With the deployment, boat access in and out of the bay to the Gulf will not be allowed.

If your boat is soiled by oil there could be "official" prescribed methods for cleaning your boat.

By Sam Rogers, APTA President

In 1963, The Florida Legislature enacted legislation authorizing property owners on Alligator Point to establish a special taxing district to organize, and to fund through annual property taxes on Point property owners, and service fees, for the provision of fresh water to such properties within the proscribed boundary set forth in the Act. For all of those nearly 50 years your Alligator Point Water Resources District (APWRD) management has consistently provided an adequate and inexpensive supply of quality fresh water to property owners.

Today, APWRD is in sound financial condition and continues to provide quality product and service by a well managed professional staff. It has been suggested by some, that Franklin County water services, indeed all of the coastal big bend, should be consolidated into one gigantic organization, ostensibly, for reasons of efficiency.

Your Board of Directors opposes this position. The Board is concerned about the wisdom of any such consolidation at this time because of the potential for disruption of service and cost efficiency should control be shifted to some larger and less responsive entity. Your Board has appointed a special committee, chaired by APTA Past President Ken Osborne, to monitor such activities, and to provide liaison to APWRD.

From Oyster Radio; http://www.oysterradio.blogspot.com/

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