With All Eyes On The Gulf Oil Spill - Kinship Circle Is There
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Kinship Circle
June 12, 2010

Venice, Louisiana: Kinship Circle has gone where few other animal organizations have been: Into the trenches of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf. We are there right now, in an investigative capacity to document oil-affected animals and alert Unified Command where they are. Animal rescue groups -- other than specialized organizations authorized under Unified Command -- currently do not have access into restricted zones. But select press and documentarians do.

KINSHIP CIRCLE AND AEOTG (All Eyes on the Gulf) TEAM #1, from lt to rt:
(back row) Documentary filmmaker Tom McPhee and his son Kevin; (front row)
Kinship Circle IC Bonnie Morrison, Tania Velasco and Rachel Laskowski; Plaquemines Parish coastal director P.J. Hahn; Kinship Circle’s Cheri Deatsch and Sister Michael Marie; AEOTG’s Jon Shurtz All photos © WA2S.org / Kinship Circle, Gulf Coast 2010

Kinship Circle was asked to "embed" with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Tom McPhee for his All Eyes On The Gulf (AEOTG) expedition. Our disaster responders are on the ground to focus camera lenses and notepads on contaminated parts of Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. AEOTG is a scientific tour to collect visual records. It’s also a window to the truth. As part of AEOTG's crew of filmmakers and photojournalists, Kinship Circle may deploy teams through August, as funds permit.

Tom McPhee's organization, World Animal Awareness Society, is approved under Unified Command (BP, Coast Guard, fed/state officials) to access affected areas. All team members wear photo ID badges.

Brown Pelicans await cleaning in a holding pen at IBRRC (International Bird Rescue and Rehabilitation Center), where Kinship Circle and WA2S team members trained. Photo © WA2S.org / Kinship Circle

WHERE ARE THE ANIMALS?

On 6/10/10 U.S. Fish and Wildlife reported that more than 400 oiled birds were taken to Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana in a span of several days -- over five times as many than in the last six weeks combined. Where are the photos and clips? According to CNN, BP is attempting to block reporters from photographing animals altogether.

Plaquemines Parish coastal zone director P.J. Hahn lifts an oil-covered pelican at Queen Bess Island in Barataria Bay 6/5/10. AP/Gerald Herbert

A FILMMAKER'S VISION

Tom McPhee's All Eyes On The Gulf is a portal to the "human/animal  intersection" in this disaster. Team members undergo two-day training before they journey to oil damaged regions across five states. Volunteers gather visual evidence from ground, water and air levels. They act as "spotters" to give Unified Area Command location coordinates for suffering animals and facilitate their capture and care. Detailed data collection procedures are used and volunteers are prepped for encounters with oil distressed animals.

A rescued and rehabilitated Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is released off the Bolivar Peninsula in Texas. The species is threatened by the oil slick because it only nests in the western Gulf of Mexico. msnbc.msn.com

Help Save Lives By Supporting All Eyes On The Gulf

As evidenced by Kinship Circle's aid in Chile's 8.8 quake and tsunami -- disaster response is expensive. We’re rarely involved in two catastrophic missions at the same time. But as animals are treated for wounds and disease in Chile...victims of BP's oil spill await aid in the U.S.

Photo © WA2S.org / Kinship Circle

OIL SPILL RESPONSE FUNDING IS NEEDED FOR:

• RV/motor home for an All Eyes On The Gulf mobile command center
• Hazmat/Tyvek suits, respirators, rubber boots
• Deployment of volunteer teams through August (or longer)
• Public messaging and media outreach
• Computers/communications overhead and equipment
• Fuel, food, lodging, tents
• AND MORE...

Donate online (select: BP Gulf Oil Spill)

OR
Mail a check to:
Kinship Circle
ATTN: BP Gulf Oil Spill
7380 Kingsbury Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63130

World Animal Awareness Society

Core mission: To focus a lens on human-animal interactions and to share this information with the world. World Animal Awareness Society is documenting the Gulf oil spill for historical, educational and research purposes. Visual data will be archived indefinitely and distributed via WA2S.org.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL EYES ON THE GULF

WORLD ANIMAL AWARENESS SOCIETY: http://www.wa2s.org (See Google map with videos of where we are. Click on "Events" button.)

* YOUTUBE / All Eyes on the Gulf Expedition Day 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGVxY9df0bU

* YOUTUBE / WA2S Gulf Oil Spill Promo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmt4mYLrQbU 

PRESS RELEASE: http://prlog.org/10732195

WA2S FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Animal-Awareness-Society-WA2SOrg/251128676541?ref=ts

---

Return to Animal Rights Articles