The ability to save the lives of blackened seabirds caught in an oil spill will be enhanced later this year, thanks to plans for quickly mobilizing up to four times as many bird-cleaning stations.

Ideas for protecting Puget Sound's killer whales in an oil spill and for rescuing other marine mammals also are moving into high gear. It's all part of more sophisticated planning for spill prevention and response.

Oil-spill prevention has always been a top priority, but state regulations were overhauled following the Point Wells spill in 2004, when oil drifted across Puget Sound and landed on a beach in North Kitsap. The Dalco Passage spill near Tacoma the following year added to the urgency for better planning.

Out of the new rules, approved last year, came an understanding that plans for rescuing wildlife depend too much on a voluntary network of wildlife experts. Further lessons were learned in November, when more than 1,000 oiled birds were recovered in San Francisco Bay and moved to rehabilitation centers in California.

"In San Francisco, they were prepared," said Joe Gaydos, a veterinarian and regional director of the SeaDoc Society on Orcas Island. "They have been working on this for many years, and it kind of brought the message home."

...

Planning to assist marine mammals during an oil spill is not as far along, but it is occurring on several fronts. Under current plans, oiled wildlife could move into available marine aquariums and other rehabilitation facilities in Washington state plus specialized facilities in California.

Since an oil spill is considered the greatest threat to the survival of the Puget Sound killer whales, a task force has identified methods of "hazing" to be used to drive orcas away from an oil slick. The effort is part of recovery planning for the orcas, listed as endangered by the federal government.

Suggested techniques include using recorded orca calls, banging on pipes that reverberate in the water, setting off explosive "seal bombs" and calling in the Navy to use its mid-frequency sonar. If adopted, the ideas would become part of the Northwest Area Contingency Plan, which spells out how one should respond to a spill.

Click here to read the complete story in the Kitsap Sun.