Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Ever heard that saying? Well we live it! That’s always been our frame of mind when hurricane season rolls around each year. But who knew this would ever apply to oil spill response? If you’ve visited us before, you know that each and every day we spend countless hours talking the talk – oceans are vitally important, oceans conservation needs to be a top priority – and now it’s time we walked the walk my friends. Our country is experiencing the largest oil spill in recorded history…devastating wildlife along the northern gulf coast…I know you’ve seen the pictures. Regardless of the fact that the Keys has felt zero effects from that spill, the Dolphin Connection team stands ready to respond. Get this - we have already received training for post emergency spilled oil clean up, we have already completed courses in oiled wildlife response, and have joined our local Keys community as volunteers ready, willing, and able to assist. All of this before we’ve even seen one drop of oil on our own shores – and God willing, we never will. Our hope is that we will one day be invited to the hardest hit areas to apply our newly acquired skills. We want to make a difference, and are ready to walk the walk. Are you?

Well, if you’re feeling helpless about ways you can help with this disaster, never fear…we’re here to empower you! You can volunteer your time, not so much with the spill clean-up itself, but by helping organizations that are supporting the clean-up efforts. Many non-profits are helping in some way, so research a few in your area and if you can, support by donating your time or some money to the cause.

But one of the best and easiest ways to support the effort is to REDUCE YOUR USE OF OIL. Here’s how:

• Walk, bike, use mass-transit, carpool
• Buy local whenever possible, so you’re buying products that haven’t been shipped very far
• Stop using plastic and styrofoam, which is produced using oil (not to mention the impact on our landfills)
• Turn off lights when you leave a room, unplug chargers when not in use, purchase energy saving light bulbs, and generally reduce your electricity consumption since power plants still use oil (among other resources) to produce energy
• Purchase cosmetics that do not use “petrolatum” or other oil byproducts
• LEARN MORE at these links, because real power lies in education!

  OR&R Deepwater Horizon page (main NOAA page)
  NOS Deepwater Horizon page
  Deepwater Horizon Response page
  Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant
  Gulf of Mexico Alliance
  Waterkeeper Alliance
  The Ocean Conservancy
  Audubon Society
  International Bird Rescue
  National Geographic images of spill