The ability to make a positive contribution in a response to an oiled wildlife emergency has always been a key objective in our work. In our 20 years we have responded to quite a few incidents in different countries under many different circumstances. This article will revisit some of these incidents to share what we’ve learned and to explain why real-time incidents have always been the main driver of our preparedness work.
At the turn of the new millennium, Sea Alarm was still a young organisation aiming to bring more professionalism into the field of oiled wildlife response by working in cooperation with animal care specialists, governments and industry stakeholders. This journey to professionalism, marked by a number of serious oil spills, was not a smooth one.
Sea Alarm has played an active role in motivating European Coastal States to explore the issue of Oiled Wildlife Response and Preparedness via the three major Regional Agreements: “Bonn”, “HELCOM” and “Barcelona”. This article provides an overview of these efforts, and what has been achieved over the years.
Throughout its 20 years of existence, Sea Alarm has assisted many European countries by motivating, initiating, informing and facilitating national processes, with the aim of raising awareness and improving response planning and capacity building.
In its 20 year history Sea Alarm has been active across the globe, carrying out numerous activities to advance wildlife response preparedness with a large number of stakeholders.
Sea Alarm was active in the month-long response to wildlife affected by the Bow Jubail oil spill in Rotterdam Harbour, the Netherlands, coordinating the work of Dutch, European, and global responders in the care of more than 500 oiled swans.
The 13th edition of the International Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference took place in Baltimore, Maryland in May, presented by Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, and hosted by the National Aquarium.