The Daily Spill: Latest Cap Efforts Progress As Pelicans Bathe In Gunk

Oil has begun its assault on the Gulf's marshes and beaches in earnest now, and wildlife rescue teams now have their hands full working in prime pelican breeding ground. As of noon Friday, workers had already collected 612 birds, 280 sea turtles, and 31 mammals from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. Most of those were already dead.

It is truly sickening to see the photos of the oiled birds, their beautiful colors and graceful shapes nearly unrecognizable underneath the shiny, sticky coat of brown goo.

Some good photos can be found here and here (warning: don't look if you're planning to eat anytime soon). You can see a pdf report of the victim count here. There's a good post over on the Animals blog about BP's attempts to stifle devastating photographs of oiled wildlife.

And as Florida and Alabama residents are watching the incoming waves of oil, groups like Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research and the International Bird Rescue Research Center are doing good work helping the wildlife that might be saved. President Obama, in his visit to the Gulf yesterday, said that at least 20,000 people are working to protect the coast, and he has authorized a deployment of 17,500 National Guard troops.

Officials are speaking cautiously optimistic words about the latest efforts to stanch the flow of oil. Today responders are trying to close vents on the cap that they finally managed fit onto the well riser on Thursday, but they have to work careful to avoid icy crystals clogging it up again, the New York Times reports. So far they've siphoned off 6,000 barrels of oil, but oil continues to gush out the vents. See for yourself with BP's live feeds here.

President Obama has now chimed in to criticize BP's plan to potentially pay $10.5 billion in dividends to shareholders, and its $50 million worth of TV ad buys for damage control to its sinking reputation.

"Now, I don't have a problem with BP fulfilling its legal obligations," Obama said, according to The Los Angeles Times. "What I don't want to hear is that they're spending that kind of money on shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising, [but] they're nickel-and-diming fishermen or small businesses here in the gulf who are having a hard time."

Need a way to express your own anger? A developer called Jess3 has put out a Firefox plugin, free for download, that will black out any mention of BP with a dripping coat of oil.

Photo Credit: IBRRC. The image is of oiled Brown Pelicans captured at Grand Isle, Louisiana on Thursday. They are waiting to be cleaned at The Fort Jackson Wildlife Care Center.