Volunteers washing a Brown Pelican from The Miami Herald video

The Miami Herald visited the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center to learn more about what volunteers are doing to save the oiled birds.

In the video below you’ll see Jay Holcomb, who is the executive director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) and Dr. Erica Miller, from Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research explaining what it takes to rescue an oiled Brown Pelican.

Towards the end of the video, Jay Holcomb says:

We’re kind of like, in a sense, old timers at oil spills. We see oiled birds all the time … and in your heart you always feel it when you see it.

But we know that we are kind of part of their home, and if we can care for them and get them back in shape, which we do with a lot of them, they have a chance.

So, you kind of suck it up and go and just do the job. It’s hurtful, but we just keep our focus on the animals.

Seeing photos and videos on the the web and TV is one thing, but to actually be there is completely different. It’s takes a special type of person to do this kind of work.

Thanks so much to all the volunteers!