Oiled Wildlife Care Network

01/31/2025

🔬 OWCN Research Spotlight: The OWCN funded research led by Dr. Tenaya Norris of The Marine Mammal Center on the distribution of Guadalupe fur seals (Arctocephalus townsendi) off the California coast. The study found that juvenile fur seals inhabit waters farther from shore and have little overlap with natural and anthropogenic potential sources of oil and gas in the nearshore marine environment. That being said, weaned pups are often found closer to shore and are more susceptible to oil spill incidents and other nearshore threats.

The initial OWCN funding also served as the catalyst for an amazing effort to satellite tag fur seals. Prior to 2016, only 3 Guadalupe fur seals were ever tracked using a satellite tag - as of December 2024, this research team has tagged their 208th fur seal on Guadalupe Island.

Photo Credit: Jeff Harris

Research conducted under permit # SGPA/DGVS/00091/17

01/27/2025

NEW BLOG POST: "Oilapalooza: Through the Eyes of Our Network" is a four-part blog series written by the recipients of our 2024 DEIA grant to attend Oilapalooza and our Full Deployment Drill. The third post in this series is written by Jenna Stallard, Wildlife Care Manager of the Bird Department at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Hello! I’m Jenna Stallard, Wildlife Care Manager over the Bird Department at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and I’m thrilled to serve as Program Leader for our campus as the newest member of the Oiled Wildlife Conservation Network (OWCN). As I prepared for my first Oilapalooza event, I wasn’t ...

01/25/2025

As part of their "Wildlife Week", 3rd and 4th year UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine students in the SVM VET 435C - Large Animal Stream - Zoological Medicine Emphasis had the opportunity to learn from OWCN veterinarians Drs. Jamie Sherman, Lorraine Barbosa, and Victoria Hall in a crash course on oiled wildlife response. Students learned the effects of oil on wildlife and tips for care, concluding with a tour around the rehabilitation at the SF Bay Oiled Wildlife Care & Education Center led by International Bird Rescue wildlife care manager Kelly Beffa.

01/24/2025

🔬 OWCN Research Spotlight: For 3 years, the OWCN funded a project led by Drs. Christine Kreuder Johnson, Megan Moriarty, and Melissa Miller to explore novel biomarkers for repeated domoic acid exposure and associated chronic health impacts in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). This research has advanced our understanding of the pathobiology of cardiac disease with applications to treatment and best achievable care for oiled sea otters.

This research was also conducted in collaboration with partners from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US FDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Monterey Bay Aquarium, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, The Marine Mammal Center, Aquarium of the Pacific, and SeaWorld Animal Health & Rescue Center.

01/23/2025

NEW BLOG POST: "Oilapalooza: Through the Eyes of Our Network" is a four-part blog series written by the recipients of our 2024 DEIA grant to attend Oilapalooza and our Full Deployment Drill. The next post in this series is written by Anna Goldman, the Wildlife Museum Curator and Marine Wildlife Care Coordinator at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Hi! I’m Anna Goldman, the Wildlife Museum Curator and Marine Wildlife Care Coordinator at Cal Poly Humboldt. As a new member of the OWCN, I didn’t know what to expect from Oilapalooza and honestly, was a little nervous. Cal Poly Humboldt (previously California State University) is the longest st...

01/22/2025

It's ! We asked our Member Organizations to share their favorite squirrel photos to showcase the cool work they do year-round to help injured and orphaned squirrels in California. Enjoy!

01/17/2025

🔬 OWCN Research Spotlight: In 2018, the OWCN funded research led by Point Blue Conservation scientists to assess the risk of oil spill exposure between three Alcidae species from an important seabird colony in the Farallon Islands off the coast of central California. The team found that Cassin’s auklets and rhinoceros auklets were at higher risk of oil exposure compared to pigeon guillemots due to differences in migratory behavior.

Part of their findings were published in Marine Ecology Progress Series: https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v701/p133-143/

01/15/2025

NEW BLOG POST: "Oilapalooza: Through the Eyes of Our Network" is a four-part blog series written by the recipients of our 2024 DEIA grant to attend Oilapalooza and our Full Deployment Drill. The first post in this series is written by Maria Korte, a zoological registrar at SeaWorld San Diego!

Hi, I’m Maria Korte, from SeaWorld San Diego! I have been a member of OWCN since 2013, when I was on the marine mammal rescue team at SeaWorld. I went to my first Oilapalooza that SeaWorld hosted that year and was hooked! Since then, I helped intake some oiled sea lions at SeaWorld during the Refu...

01/12/2025

01/10/2025

🔬 OWCN Research Spotlight: We recently funded a study aimed at mitigating the impact of nasopulmonary mites on marine mammal rehabilitative care. Led by Dr. Risa Pesapane (The Ohio State University), the first phase of this study involved observing the movement of nasal mites on dry surfaces.

This movement is an important characteristic of their ability to disperse from one host to another, or contaminating the environment in captive facilities risking exposure of other hosts. Stay tuned for updates from their team!

PHOTO: Live nasal mite larvae sampled from a very sick sea otter with heavy nasal mite burden (Credit: Ashani Hangawatte)

01/09/2025

New Year, New Storage: The OWCN team moved equipment and supplies from an old building so that it can be demolished as part of the larger Superfund site (see Danny Vickers' Superfund blog at owcnblog.org from November 7!). Everything has been moved to a newly constructed building which is better-suited for storing our gear as well as for rapid mobilization in the event of an oil spill response activation 🙏

12/22/2024

🔬 OWCN Research Spotlight: The 2007 Cosco Busan incident highlighted the susceptibility of SF Bay Area river otters to oil exposure via foraging on oiled prey species. In 2019, the River Otter Ecology Project and California Academy of Sciences submitted a proposal to compare camera and genetic techniques for assessing this river otter population. We funded this research across two years through our competitive grants program.

The project found that noninvasive camera methods and genetic techniques show great promise for providing both qualitative and quantitative insights into the distribution and abundance of river otters.

REMINDER: Deadline to submit a pre-proposal for the 2025-2026 OWCN grant cycle is 10 days away - owcn.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/research/competitive-grants-program

Photo Credit: Carlos Poratta

12/20/2024

🔬 OWCN Research Spotlight: In 2010, the OWCN funded a proposal to validate the use of thermography for assessing seabird body temperature and waterproofing in captivity. To test this technology, researchers worked with captive seabirds at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and wild seabirds undergoing rehabilitation at International Bird Rescue, two OWCN Member Organizations.

Findings indicated that thermography is effective for assessing surface body temperatures and waterproofing the underside of seabird. This method proved less invasive and less time-consuming than traditional methods.

Do you have a proposal for research or technology that could help with OWCN readiness and response work? Submit a pre-proposal by January 1 for over $15K/year funding for up to 3 years: owcn.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/research/competitive-grants-program

Competitive Grants ProgramThe Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), a collaborative program between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife - OSPR and the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is currently seeking research and t...

12/16/2024

NEW BLOG POST: OWCN's senior manager of wildlife logistics Wendy Massey is a seasoned veteran when it comes to oil spills. For the month of December, we will be sharing blog posts written by Wendy looking back on her most memorable response: the M/V Citrus spill. Go to our blog to read Part 1!

My name is Wendy Massey and I’ve cared for oiled animals since I was a kid but have only officially been responding to spills since 1992. So, in those 32 years, I’ve responded to well over 200 spills.

12/13/2024

In celebration of 30 years since the establishment of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, our emeritus director Dr. Michael Ziccardi interviewed three individuals who were there at the start: Jonna Mazet, Dave Jessup, and Yvonne Addassi.

We shared teasers these last few Thursdays and we finally are dropping the full video conversation today! Watch online: https://youtu.be/0i5a3VU7hkk