In the photo above, "wash team members" learn the washing process using vegetable oil as the simulated spill material. The washing takes at least three tubs of water at precisely 104 degrees Fahrenheit, a precise amount of detergent, and forty-five minutes with four people to complete just one bird!

Not shown in the photo is the O.S.H.A. required safety gear which must be worn in the event of a real spill to protect the workers from the hazards of the spilled material.

As dawn broke on the morning of August 10th, 1993, a raging fire on board of the damaged barge concealed from view the nearly 400,000 gallons of fuel oil, gasoline, and assorted petroleum product pouring into the blue water just off the Fort De Soto park shoreline. In a matter of hours, the community mobilized in a huge volunteer effort, led by PSRC.

At first, the prevailing winds blew the spill out to sea...but only temporarily. On the 13th of August, the spill began coming ashore on the white sand beaches of Pinellas county. Shortly thereafter, oiled birds began arriving at the rehabilitation site at a peak rate of over 40 birds an hour.

It took nearly two full days to extinguish the fires. Meanwhile, the volunteers organized.

Oiled seaweed being removed from the beach at Treasure Island.

First stop for incoming birds and wildlife was the in one of the three triage units. These units were the "ER" for the operation.

Each animal was evaluated, medically treated for any injuries and given a dose of Pepto-Bismol© to protect and repair their digestive systems from the effects of digested oil. (Fatalities don't occur from oil on the skin or feathers...it occurs when the bird tries to clean itself by "preening;" thereby ingesting the oil. The oil causes lesions in the digestive tract, with internal bleeding killing the bird.)

The medical treatment and methods were developed as a result of experience in previous petroleum product spills around the world.

Inside the triage unit, the most seriously injured remain in 24-hour intensive care. No animal can be washed until the medical staff determines that it can withstand the stress of the cleaning.

The paperwork seen hanging on the front of the cages included the patient's medical chart, progress, and a log of where and when it was rescued so it can be returned to the area from which it came.

Here, many veterinarians and volunteers gave their time to help the injured wildlife.

The first stage of cleaning is to "spot treat" heavily soiled areas with detergent solution.

Note the person holding the pelican has a finger inside of the beak. (This is because pelicans breath through their bills...if the bill is held closed, the bird will suffocate.) This is the proper way to hold a pelican...with the thumb over the upper bill, one finger inside the bill and the rest of the fingers under the lower bill.

All birds held in the wash waiting area were washed within 24 hours of reception. To accomplish this feat, many volunteers refused to go home until all birds received that day had been cleaned!

Four teams of washers working in parallel processing lines for over 16 hours at a time worked feverishly in the 95 degree Florida August heat. (And notice that the only exposed portions of the wash volunteers was their face! THAT was HOT!!)

The washing process took 45 minutes from the time the bird entered the wash area until it exited, rinsed to the heated pens.

The water in the tubs was heated to precisely 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The cleaning agent was a specifically measured portion of Dawn* dishwashing liquid, which was specifically tested for this purpose.

In this view of the four parallel washing lines, you can see the 55 gallon drums used to hold the wash water after the washing of each bird. The water was then collected from these drums by companies that specialize in separating oil and water in their processing plant.

The total time to wash one bird in these lines was 45 minutes from the start of cleaning to sending the washed bird to the heated waiting pens for preening. The four parallel lines allowed us to process four birds at one time. Each wash team on each line consisted of four volunteers which trained and worked together as a unit.

Besides the 16 wash team members, four volunteers cleaned and filled the tubs with the 104 degree water and afterwards, emptied the wash tubs into the drums, starting the process all over again! (Each wash line consisted of four wash tubs in a row.)

After washing, the birds were placed under heat lamps in baby pens to aid in maintaining their body heat as they preened and started the restoration process of replacing their waterproofing.

After being removed from the heat lamp warmed baby pens, they were placed in the "hotel," a large area of pens with wading pools for each species shown in the photo above.

In the "hotel," wading pools provide needed water for exercise and promote further preening and waterproofing.

The pools were constructed of plywood with polyliners and indoor/outdoor carpet on the rims. Fittings for large hoses aided in draining and cleaning of the pools.

Note the feeding trough located on the corner of the pools.

Most people see raccoons a "cute" wildlife. Around caged birds, they are "killers!" They can circumvent almost any method used to protect the birds and designed to keep the predators out of the cages and pens. One of the main jobs of the site security team were the 24 hour "raccoon" patrols! These teams constantly circled the site after dark with flashlights, preventing the raccoon sneak attacks. (This was a favorite assignment of many of the local college students!)

Another team was assigned to the cleaning of the transport pens after each use. These dedicated team members cleaned the nearly 150 pens constantly.

In all, over 2,000 volunteers worked on the various teams in the 3-month effort. Some of the other teams involved were:

It was all done for this picture, repeated many times over in many areas. A record 85% of the birds that came in made it to this point.

The final release back into the area from which they came!