Ithaca (WSYR-TV) - The Cornell Lab of Ornithology just sent a team to Louisiana to document what's happening with the oil spill in the Gulf and its impact on birds and other wildlife.
The video coming from the Gulf of birds unable to fly because of a thick coating of oil is enough to pull on people's heartstrings. "When oil mats down feathers, it ruins their waterproofing and they can get wet and chilled and die of hypothermia," said Cornell's Director of Conservation Science Ken Rosenberg.
The experts at Cornell, however, needed more data about how the spill is impacting the ecosystem than just the video could provide. So, they sent a team down to see for themselves. "We wanted to get groups with biologists to document the scene before the oil hits and more importantly, what happens to these animals," said Rosenberg.
The crew is just starting to send back some of its findings. On Saturday, the crew found two birds covered with oil. It took only about an hour for rescuers to get there to help the birds. "The only ones being recovered are on the beaches, in areas that are accessible," said Rosenberg. "So many parts of Louisiana are not accessible."
The impact is magnified, experts say, because it is peak nesting season for birds along the gulf like the brown pelican. "Their eggs apparently just hatched and they have downy white birds in the best which we're hoping stay downy and white," said Rosenberg.
Rosenberg says it is also the time shore birds migrate. "A lot of those birds could be trapped there because of oil," he said.
The crew from Cornell will stay in the Gulf as long as they have to. The university is taking it one day at a time.
