Deepwater Horizon Day 23: Just the Facts, Ma’am

Just some factoids provided tonight, as it has been a fun-filled couple of days and I have somewhat lost my ability for independent thought this evening:

• Turtles collected (as of 0800 21 May): 3 live externally oiled turtles (from at-sea operations; 2 Kemp’s ridleys, 1 loggerhead); 10 externally unoiled live turtles (2 of which have died); 173 dead externally unoiled turtles
• Dolphins collected (as of 0800 21 May): 18 dead externally unoiled dolphins
• Status of necropsies:  67 turtles done to date – results to be given in tomorrow’s blog (to make sure you come back)
• Number of people working in the OMTU yesterday: 22 (3 at Houma ICC, 1 at Mobile ICC, 4 at facilities,2 in at-sea ops, 4 in field, 8 at remote locations)
• Status of expansion: Standing up St. Petersburg ICC with an OMTU liaison, discussing with Keys the plans for mammal and turtle operations, planning expansion to Texas (Galveston) for cetacea and sea turtle care
• Where are we on animal care plans: Mammal protocols = completed; turtle protocols = completed; manatee protocols = in process (response plan done, animal care plan in the works)
• Number of facilities in place: 4
• Number of organizations/key individuals identified as “paraprofessionals”: 192

I’ll be back tomorrow with more neuronal function I promise.

– Mike