How to Clean an Oil-Coated Pelican (VIDEO)

Earlier this week, a Gulf-oil-coated brown pelican was found in Mobile, Alabama, and taken to the nearby Theodore Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where workers attempted to treat it.

The hour-long cleaning process, using warm water and diluted Dawn dishwashing liquid, is shown in the following two-minute video, courtesy of the US Coast Guard:

The pelican next requires at least a week of recuperation before it's back up on its webbed feet, its feathers are sufficiently realigned for flight, and it's ready for release--somewhere other than the Gulf.

Although the bath might look simple here, it's best not to attempt to clean an oil-spill affected pelican yourself, according to Jay Holcomb, Executive Director of the California-based International Bird Rescue Research Center.

For starters, the birds have no idea we're trying to help them.

"They are wild animals and highly stressed by handling and captivity," Holcomb says. "Most likely they regard us as predators that are about to eat them."

The IBRCC, which is working in conjunction with animal rescue workers and volunteers in the Gulf, has responded to more than 200 oils spills since 1971. If you see or find a bird affected by the spill, the organization suggests calling the Wildlife reporting hotline at [phone].

For more information--including how to adopt a pelican--visit ibrrc.org.

 

 

 

Follow Keith Thomson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kqthomson

Comments

[kaykaythere]

02:15 PM on 06/08/2010

Somehow putting the article about how to clean an oil-soaked pelican immediately below the picture and article about Fundraiser Puts Gulf Seafood On The Menu seems a little off?:

[phyveaux]

08:30 AM on 06/07/2010

This is so ignorant. How many times do we see five or six people washing a stupid bird? What a waste. If people have that much time on their hands, put them on a boat to set some booms. Put them on an oil vacuum ship to start sucking it up. Put them in the marsh to start spreading enzymes/bacterium or to start vacuuming the oil. Stop it with the stupid birds. Shotgun the ones that won't survive and spend the effort actually collecting the oil. Until the oil is collected, putting five or six people to work on a single bird is a waste of time and effort.

[GrrlScientist]

10:13 AM on 06/07/2010

people do what they can to help. washing birds is something that needs to be done and mostly anyone, from kids to senior citizens, can do it after they've been trained. there aren't many kids or senior citizens or, hell, even BP CEOs, who can vacuum oil or place booms around sensitive wetlands. actually, if you dig a little bit, you'd find out that even the BP employees are morons about placing oil booms correctly, and these guys (supposedly!!) attended an expensive week-long "boom school"

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/06/bp_fails_booming_school_101.php

(except, they were the ones who hung around the local bars for that week -- on the corporate dime -- which is why none of them can do the job they were hired and trained to do).

[esseff44]

05:04 PM on 06/07/2010

It takes that many people to wash a bird to keep it from hurting itself and the person washing it. The process is tiring and people have to take turns as the bird has to be lathered and rinsed many times to get all the goo off. The birds are not stupid. They are wild. They are victims of a man made disaster and its the duty of all humans to do what they can when they can to help them survive and return to as normal as possible environment. Only your first sentence makes sense if it describes your message.

[Vladimira Lenina]

05:49 AM on 06/07/2010

A big thanks to all the people doing that.

[Ravyn]

03:36 AM on 06/07/2010

These people should get medals for the hard work they're doing rescuing these birds.

[Crushedknee]

02:16 AM on 06/07/2010

Here is some info regarding the surval of oiled Birds..

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/06/oiled_birds_to_kill_or_not_to.php

I think a consideration of the cost of cleaning and rehabilitating birds should have a good comparative value to investing in increased nesting ground preservation and efforts to boast the recovery of populations over the years..It's not as dramatic but the cost of saving one Oiled bird may cost more than preserving a nesting/feeding site for several birds in perpetuity..Anyway thats my opinion..Just examine the organizations that you give money too.. I prefer ones that take a longer term preservation perspective and not just a immediate response.

[esseff44]

05:06 PM on 06/07/2010

There is no reason to make such a choice. Both efforts are important and deserving of support.

[T Pol]

12:06 AM on 06/07/2010

Dawn is great for cutting grease, but I wonder if a baking soda solution would do as well and be more environmentally and bird-friendly?

One can see from this video how deft one has to be to clean a pelican.

I like the idea of putting people back to work by training and having them clean things up -- with the bill footed by BP, of course.

I'll give a hearty "amen" to the commenter who said bless their hearts, the humans and the animals. A crying shame -- literally -- what it will take to deal with this disaster and the toll it is taking on people, animals and environment.

[MexiChick67]

12:55 AM on 06/07/2010

Dawn is the ONLY soap to cut through the crude. I've read up on this after the Exxon Valdez and this is the only soap that cuts through the crude and it keeps the feathers from being stripped. Several highly environmentally conscious groups have tried many products to try and clean both birds & mammals, but they can't find anything that cleans as well.

[T Pol]

12:51 AM on 06/08/2010

Thanks for the heads up and background. I figured these groups were ahead of me on trying out different agents, but still thought I would ask. Dawn has also come to the rescue for things like vegetable oil truck spills on highways (again, all donated). Like I said, it's a great grease-cutter.

[TheMia168]

09:42 PM on 06/06/2010

To Keith Thomson, Thank YOU for reporting such an inspirational piece.

[lisakaz2]

07:57 PM on 06/06/2010

Can't they give the bird a drug to calm it down or does the oil make it impossible? Seems to me if it were de-stressed they could be more helpful.

[montomusic]

10:00 PM on 06/06/2010

Hi lisakaz2,

My name is Joe Monto from Seattle. I recently co-wrote a song about the gulf coast tragedy. Here is a link to a video we did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtIWvkDvVUM

We don't think about it much here on the West Coast. My hope is that after people watch this video, they will.
Appreciate your feedback!
Blessings,
Joe Monto

[Cactusman]

07:17 PM on 06/07/2010

Beautiful song. Thank you!

[seajayh]

05:12 PM on 06/06/2010

The government should hire, train and put to work some of the millions of unemployed in cleaning up the animals and beaches down there and send the bill to BP.

[tatertots]

04:03 PM on 06/06/2010

BP damn well better be reimbursing and funding all these wildlife rescue groups!!! Not one red cent better come out of their tiny budgets! AND BP should be paying all wildlife rescue volunteers for their time! All of them! They are putting their health in danger to save wildlife that BP is killing!!

[realitytrumpsbull]

02:12 PM on 06/06/2010

What would be so wrong with basically dumping the pelican in a vat of water, and liberally applying some of the old Johnsen's No More Tears baby shampoo, and let him splash around in there 'til he's the right color, again? Maybe they'll come up with something like a 'bird bath', where you put the little guy in his kennel, put the kennel on the conveyor, and he comes out the other side all fluffy and stuff. A lot is known about oil, the sooner they get to work in the eco-friendly detergent dept. the sooner they'll be able to do some larger-scale animal rescue. And, if works for a bird, then maybe they can make it work for a fish, too, find an oily trout, dump him in the cleanup tank...I think Kevin Costner's on the right track, remains to be seen if industry and govt/public will follow him...this won't be the last oil spill in US history, so may as well do some work here and figure out how to do it quickly, and efficiently. They also say that eventually, oil breaks down, in nature. What makes the process happen faster?

[Benblanken]

03:11 PM on 06/06/2010

The idea of dumpinsg an oiled pelican in water occasions thoughts of a contrary fate wished for another flying cousin. Canada geese bring down airplanes and don't migrate anymore to Canada. They infest much of the coastal east. Could we get a tiny, well-directed oil spill to coat our geese? Golf courses and air travelers would be much obliged.

[Uproar]

01:20 PM on 06/06/2010

It's admirable of Dawn to donate the detergent. But BP should consider reimbursing them for it. BP's fault causes deaths left and right - human and animal, and instead of pouring out money to fix the situation, they sit on their buts for a month while people and other companies volunteer their time and efforts and products. Good going BP.

[Raul Garcia]

11:02 AM on 06/06/2010

This is such old news for anyone in the know.

[Paul Buhler]

08:52 AM on 06/06/2010

Thank you a thousand times over to all you people working at the sights of the oil spill for doing your best to clean and comfort all the innocent animals and birds injured and scarred by mans selfishness and greed...your actions prove that human beings really are capable of selfless acts of kindness! If only everyone was....

[Laura McBride]

07:56 AM on 06/06/2010

What a lovely story. Thank you. We know only a fraction of the birds and animals harmed will be saved by lovely people like these, but at least it momentarily takes the edge of the almost insurmountable grief of knowing how many creatures have been killed, and how much poorer the world is because of that.The distress of all this is so unrelenting, that I'm grateful for any small moment of hope, kindness or goodness.

So, rescuers...thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thanks to Mr. Thomson for a moment of hope.