In a release today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that the agency will begin providing the public with more detailed reports of birds rescued and collected during the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
According to Tom Strickland, assistant secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the agency will provide the data on a species-by-species breakdown and maps of where the birds were collected.
The new reports will be based on a rigorous review by a team of Service biologists of preliminary data released as part of the daily Consolidated Wildlife Table.
“These new detailed reports will give us a better initial picture of the effects to migratory bird populations from the Deepwater Horizon spill, help guide our efforts to restore these populations, and help ensure that those responsible will be held accountable for the full impacts of the spill,” Strickland said.
The initial report released by the Fish and Wildlife Service today showed that as of September 14, 2010, a total of 3,634 dead birds and 1,042 live birds have been found in areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill. These numbers are subject to verification and cannot be considered final. Of the dead birds, the largest numbers are laughing gulls, followed by brown pelicans and northern gannets.
These numbers will be updated as the team of biologists continues the verification process, which can take several weeks. Until the response to this environmental disaster is complete and birds are no longer being captured alive or collected dead, any numbers regarding birds must be considered preliminary.
About 1.5 percent of the current total represents birds collected live that later died. As data continues to come in, the Service will report on the number of live birds that have died.
In the meantime, the unverified preliminary numbers will continue to be updated daily to provide a glimpse into the spill impacts on birds that depend on the northern Gulf Coast.
For more information about the Service’s response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, please visit www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/.
According to Tom Strickland, assistant secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the agency will provide the data on a species-by-species breakdown and maps of where the birds were collected.
The new reports will be based on a rigorous review by a team of Service biologists of preliminary data released as part of the daily Consolidated Wildlife Table.
“These new detailed reports will give us a better initial picture of the effects to migratory bird populations from the Deepwater Horizon spill, help guide our efforts to restore these populations, and help ensure that those responsible will be held accountable for the full impacts of the spill,” Strickland said.
The initial report released by the Fish and Wildlife Service today showed that as of September 14, 2010, a total of 3,634 dead birds and 1,042 live birds have been found in areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill. These numbers are subject to verification and cannot be considered final. Of the dead birds, the largest numbers are laughing gulls, followed by brown pelicans and northern gannets.
These numbers will be updated as the team of biologists continues the verification process, which can take several weeks. Until the response to this environmental disaster is complete and birds are no longer being captured alive or collected dead, any numbers regarding birds must be considered preliminary.
About 1.5 percent of the current total represents birds collected live that later died. As data continues to come in, the Service will report on the number of live birds that have died.
In the meantime, the unverified preliminary numbers will continue to be updated daily to provide a glimpse into the spill impacts on birds that depend on the northern Gulf Coast.
For more information about the Service’s response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, please visit www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/.
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