OWCN Blog

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 standing organization (29 years!), and with the title, came some pressure, in my mind. A bit of imposter syndrome if you will. I have only been in this position for 2 years, and still feel like I’m on a learning curve. 

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 Refugio oil spill in 2015, and was on a hot shot team for the Pipeline P00547 spill in Orange County in 2021.

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. This holiday season I am going to share the story of my favorite spill.

The M/V Citrus Spill

Part One

The Yacht Fire and Oil Spill

In the year 2000, wildlife veterinarians from the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center (including OWCN’s own Dr. Mike Ziccardi) and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) started a collaborative mentorship program aimed at providing wildlife conservation-focused senior veterinary students with hands-on training under the mentorship of wildlife professionals in California. Twenty-four years later, this program is still going strong with over 75 alumni from across the United States (and even abroad)!

You may be asking yourself what does OWCN and oiled wildlife have to do with a Superfund site. It could be that HAZWOPER training is required for both oil spill response and the handling of other hazardous waste or maybe the fact that our equipment yard at UC Davis currently sits on a Superfund site. If either of these two came to mind, then you would be correct. 

The OWCN Management Team has been busy prepping the final details for next week's big event - OILAPALOOZA 2024! If you are familiar with Network events, you will know that this is our big conference that we have every other year, and this year it will be in Bakersfield, with over 100 attendees, representing 36 out of 46 of the OWCN's Member Organizations. The first day will include an exciting mixture of speakers, panel discussions, and even a little yoga tossed in there! You can find the full line up if you go here.

Dr. Victoria Hall will join as Director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, a program within the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, effective October 16, 2024.

Despite its expanse and varied ecosystems, California has a surprising lack of diversity in its Testudines. Our state is home to just two native freshwater turtle species and only one native tortoise species. Unfortunately, all three of these species are in decline. 

Despite the smoke in the air, the recent “blue sky” times at the Oiled Wildlife Care Network have allowed us to focus on advancing our level of preparation for the (unfortunately) inevitable next oil spill. One of our areas of focus, along with our colleagues at the OSPR lab in Santa Cruz, has been the complicated world of sea otter responses.

My experience working in oil spills began prior to the founding of the OWCN.  Soon after I began working at the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) near Seattle, WA in 1991, the Tenyo Maru spill occurred, and I was enlisted to help out.  The first seabirds came into the basement of the PAWS facility but soon thereafter, a formal response was set up in an old seminary as mandated by the new Oil Pollution Act of 1990.  Unfortunately, the release rate was relative

As an individual who had involvement with legislation resulting in the creation and history of OWCN, I thought I might briefly share my recollection of how the organization got its start and what it has accomplished since then. 

March 24, 1989 was a day of awakening for America and possibly for the world, when an oil spill from the oil tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska covered Prince William Sound with 11 million gallons of crude oil, creating one of the largest environmental impacts in this sensitive area.  

When I was asked to write this blog in honor of OWCN’s 30th birthday, I admit it took a while to jog my long-term memory (yes I am of a venerable age and started my career well before the term “blog” was even coined) in order to look back on the long and prodigious history of the OWCN. Not all organizations get to be 30 years old and even those that do don’t necessarily grow and develop in positive ways, let alone become ‘world class’.

Thirty years ago today marked the beginning of my involvement with (what was to become) the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN).   A friend and I, who worked for the National Park Service, were driving from Humboldt to Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park to conduct an animal capture and restraint training. We stopped by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife facility in Rancho Cordova to say hi, and drop off some samples.  As we were leaving, Dr. Dave Jessup saw me in the parking lot and brought over a large document.