Wildlife response awareness event in Ireland

In early November 2011, Sea Alarm facilitated a one day volunteer awareness event in Limerick, Ireland, in cooperation with the Shannon Port Authority and the Irish Seal Sanctuary. The event aimed at providing background information to a group of 25 selected volunteers from the Shannon Estuary area who had expressed an interest in assisting with a future oiled wildlife incident. The event was organised by the Shannon Port Authority who have recently started working on oiled wildlife response preparedness in the Shannon Estuary area, including purchasing a set of oiled wildlife response equipment. Sascha Regmann (ProBird, Germany), Claude Velter (Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend) and Hugo Nijkamp (Sea Alarm) provided a series of lectures and some practical demonstrations, involving the purchased equipment. The event was well received and the participants demonstrated an interest in staying involved in further developments. The next step will be the development of an integrated call out procedure for wildlife response and further training events down the line.