Oil Spill Wildlife Threatened by Media Coverage

There's not much the media loves more than a good disaster, especially when it comes with images of vulnerable animals covered in oil. But to get those heart-wrenching photos, sometimes you have to make a few sacrifices ... like the vulnerable animals. Where the oil hasn't hit widlife yet, the media has.

The Deepwater Horizon Unified Command had to put out a release last week reminding media that it's illegal to land aircraft on wildlife refuges. The federal regulation prohibits flying anything from helicopters to hang gliders at an altitude that disturbs wildlife, or performing unauthorized landings or take-offs on a national wildlife refuge, except in an emergency. Getting the perfect shot of the oil slick doesn't qualify as an emergency.

Apparently the media's new favorite fly-over spot and landing pad is Breton National Wildlife Refuge's Chandeleur Islands, a system of coastal islands near Louisiana where several threatened and endangered species of birds are in their nesting season. When aircraft, even the small ones, get too close, it can frighten the birds away from their nests, exposing the eggs to predators. The disturbance may also cause the birds to abandon their nests completely.

The refuge has been temporarily closed to the public so that officials can assess the damage from the oil spill and help injured or oiled wildlife. Just a few days before Unified Command's press release on aircraft, the second oiled bird was found, a young male pelican rescued in Breton Sound.

The Breton National Wildlife Refuge is the country's second oldest refuge. It's taken a lot of hits in the past from Hurricane Katrina and previous oil spills. The brown pelican population has been recovering in the past few years, but they're still closely monitored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who hopes the nests can "avoid damage from early tropical storms and devastating hurricanes" ... and, apparently, oil spill news coverage.

The media has been called out on their carelessness in the air, but they need to tread lightly on the ground, too. Beaches and marshes are likely to suffer severe damage from the oil, and the last thing the animals need is a bunch people tromping through to get the story. This oil spill may have long-term devastating effects on the wildlife in and around the Gulf of Mexico; at this point, the less that they're threatened by excess litter, disturbances, and habitat erosion, the better chance they have of recovering.

The media is often criticized for documenting tragedy and doing nothing to help. The very least they could do is not make things any worse.

Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service