The oiled wildlife issue at the 2011 International Oil Spill Conference

Oiled wildlife response had a high profile at the 2011 International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC) in Portland, as for the first time in the event’s history it had a dedicated wildlife session, chaired by Hugo Nijkamp. Sea Alarm also exhibited at the event. In the well-attended wildlife session Saskia Sessions made a well-received presentation on the structural oiled wildlife preparedness and response instruments which have been developed in Europe, presented as a model which could potentially be applied in other parts of the world. Sea Alarm had been invited by OSRL to set up its own stand on the “OSRL island” in the event’s exhibition hall, which attracted many visitors over the four days of the conference. Sea Alarm made some space available for other international wildlife response organisations, such as SANCCOB, to exhibit and meet with visitors to the stand. Claude Velter also joined Hugo and Saskia as part of Sea Alarm’s ‘delegation’ and brought the technical viewpoint of a hands-on responder to the stand. In the dedicated “wildlife theatre”, which traditionally is set up on the exhibition floor for the oiled wildlife community, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, International Bird Rescue and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research together ran a seminar on the Deepwater Horizon wildlife response experiences.