December 2010
Sea Alarm was named a beneficiary of maritime lawyer Colin de la Rue’s Eight Up fundraising initiative. Mr. de la Rue, on a year’s sabbatical from his law practice, climbed 8 peaks around the world in aid of charitable causes.
Sea Alarm’s agreement with Oil Spill Response was renewed for five more years, allowing Sea Alarm to continue to build global wildlife response preparedness via the development of Country Wildlife Response Profiles (83 to date), increase the capability of international responders networks, assist countries in preparing national oiled wildlife response plans, maintain stocks of oiled wildlife response equipment around the world, and developing training opportunities.
Sea Alarm (Saskia Sessions) updated the Second Joint Civil Protection and Marine Pollution Workshop on Coordinated At-sea and Shoreline Pollution Response regarding Sea Alarm’s recent progress in national and regional oiled wildlife response planning, noting that coordination between at-sea and shoreline authorities is important in effective oiled wildlife response.
November 2010
Sea Alarm (Hugo Nijkamp) gave an update on Sea Alarm’s activities and plans for the future to the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) Oil Spill Working Group, which is the oil industry’s association for environmental and social issues. In IPIECA’s Oil Spill Working Group, Sea Alarm holds the status of Partner Organisation.
Invited by Saudi Aramco, Sea Alarm participated in the RA ATUM 7 oil spill exercise in Egypt, which included a two-day tabletop exercise. Sea Alarm assisted the national environmental group of the Planning Section during the exercise, and participated in the exercise evaluation committee.
October 2010
Sea Alarm attended the official opening ceremony for the Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend, presided over by Prince Laurent of Belgium and the City of Ostend.
Sea Alarm sent a proposal to the October HELCOM Response meeting for a joint working programme of oiled wildlife response preparedness between Estonia, WWF-Finland and Sea Alarm.
Sea Alarm hosted a training session for German oil spill expert Rudolf Gade and Lothar Nolte of Lower Saxony as part of the EMPOLLEX exchange programme.
In the wake of a tanker collision off the Brittany coast, Sea Alarm ran a notification exercise, alerting its network of European oiled wildlife responders. No oil was lost from the vessel, which was safely towed to port.
September 2010
A second meeting of the RSPCA, Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend, ProBird Germany and Sea Alarm was held to begin work on a joint protocol for oiled wildlife response in Europe.
Benoit Loicq from the European Community Shipowners Association (EDSA) met with Sea Alarm staff to explore potential areas of collaboration between the two groups.
Sea Alarm (Hugo Nijkamp) chaired a two day seminar in Estonia as part of the EnSaCo project which focuses on cooperation between Estonia, Finland and Sweden on shoreline cleanup and oiled wildlife response. Saskia Sessions attended the field workshop demonstrating Estonian shoreline cleanup equipment and spoke on ecological prioritisation and the effects of oil on wildlife.
August 2010
WWF The Netherlands received ongoing updates on the Deepwater Horizon spill in the US from Sea Alarm to aid them in following the oiled wildlife response to the incident.
June 2010
Sea Alarm (Saskia Sessions) made a presentation to the UK Standing Environment Group Chairs discussing recent developments in oiled wildlife response in Europe, Sea Alarm’s role and exploring possible UK activities in oiled wildlife preparedness.
Sea Alarm (Saskia Sessions) toured the SSPCA’s Middlebank Wildlife Rescue Centre in Scotland and held discussion on strengthening operational links between the RSPCA in England and the SSPCA in Scotland for oiled wildlife response.
The oiledwildlife.eu website, a Sea Alarm project, was revamped with the new version becoming the home of the EMPOWER oiled wildlife response initiative.
May 2010
The Helsinki Convention adopted the Recommendation on ‘Integrated oiled wildlife response planning in the Baltic Sea Area’ proposed by Sea Alarm, Estonia and WWF-Finland at the HELCOM meeting
Sea Alarm attended the 2010 OTSOPA (Working Group on ‘Operational, Technical and Scientific Questions Concerning Counter Pollution Activities’) meeting to take part in discussions on the proposal to add a chapter on wildlife response to the Bonn Agreement’s Counter Pollution Manual. A revised proposal will be presented at the Bonn Agreement’s 2011 OTSOPA meeting.
Sea Alarm is supporting the Irish Seal Sanctuary in the effort to coordinate the joint efforts of the many Irish NGOs interested in contributing to an oiled wildlife response plan.
Sea Alarm presented information on oiled wildlife response and the importance of developing integrated response plans to the 1st Adriatic Oil Spill Conference in Croatia.
The International Bird Rescue Research Center’s training session in Turkey included a presentation by Sea Alarm (Saskia Sessions).
April 2010
It was with sadness that Sea Alarm said goodbye to Roser Gasol, a staff member since 2006. Roser plans to continue working on oiled wildlife response and preparedness in Spain.
ProBird Germany heard talks from Sea Alarm at their recent course for oiled wildlife volunteers.
Sea Alarm (Saskia Sessions) spoke to the 2010 EnSaCo workshop on integrated oiled wildlife response and planning and moderated a tabletop exercise on the wildlife response planning process.
March 2010
Sea Alarm was the only environmental NGO in attendance at the 2010 European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) stakeholder meeting. As an invited attendee, Sea Alarm was able to raise the issue of continuing oiled wildlife response efforts within the EU.
Sea Alarm assisted OTSOPA (Bonn Agreement Working Group on Operational Technical and Scientific Questions Concerning Counter Pollution Activities) in developing a questionnaire for Bonn Agreement members regarding current practices in oiled wildlife response and preparedness. Responses to the questionnaire will be used to draft a new chapter for the Counter Pollution Manual.
February 2010
The Italian authorities requested that Sea Alarm put an assessment team on standby as an oil slick headed toward the Po Delta. The oil slick was contained without damage to wildlife.
Sea Alarm (Hugo Nijkamp) met with staff from the Helsinki City Rescue Department (HCRD) to discuss oiled wildlife response preparedness and integration of that response into the overall HCRD response plan. WWF Finland and SYKE (the Finnish National Environmental Institute work closely with all Rescue Departments on wildlife response.
HELCOM granted Sea Alarm official observer status at their 2010 meeting, which allowed Sea Alarm to strengthen its cooperation with the HELCOM response group.
As part of a training programme for WWF Finland volunteers, Sea Alarm (Hugo Nijkamp) gave an overview of the international aspects of oiled wildlife response and elements of managing a response, using a range of case studies.
The EMPOWER Steering Group, led by Sea Alarm, accepted its first group of non-founder organisations into membership. Further applications are pending.