Oil-covered brown pelicans huddle together in a cage at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, LA. Photo by Lee Celano for Reuters 
Shannon Griffin, Julie Skogland and Darene Birtell clean a brown pelican at a rescue center set up by the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, LA. Photo by Bill Haber for APToday's numbers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other groups involved in the cleanup show that 413 oiled birds have been collected alive, and 594 dead birds have been picked up. Of all those birds, only 39 have been released back into the wild.
Rick Steiner, an Alaska marine biologist who was involved in the 1989 Exxon Valdez cleanup and is now assisting Greenpeace, said from a boat in the Gulf that he and the crew turned in a heavily oiled young egret for cleaning just today.
"It was in horrible shape and I doubt seriously that it will survive the day. But, you know, we caused their pain and suffering, so we owe it to them to do everything we possibly can to give them a fighting chance of survival.”
These are tough photos to look at, but thank you for sharing them. I prefer the living sand dollars, but we need to remember what damage the hand of humans (when misguided) can do.
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