Membership Opens for Wildlife Rescue Network to Support Imperiled Animals-

A pan-European group of organizations have united together to bring about major developments in response to marine wildlife emergencies, dubbed EMPOWER. The cause will support wildlife rescue organizations, as well as veterinarians and scientists to work effectively with authorities in circumstances where many seabirds, marine mammals or marine turtles unexpectedly wash onto land with health crises. Many unintended, yet common situations such as oil or chemical spills, toxic algae bloom and other emergencies endanger the lives of these marine creatures and, if they are contaminated, possibility of survival is minimal. The group recognizes that calculated emergency response, in which thorough scientific analysis and investigation tactics are employed, may be the difference between life and death for these animals. “EMPOWER is a new chapter in our ten year history in which we have been encouraging wildlife responders and authorities to take the necessary steps towards a greater level of preparedness” says Hugo Nijkamp, Sea Alarm’s General Manager. “From the beginning of the year 2000 Sea Alarm has been cooperating with European wildlife groups and creating an international network of similar minded organizations that want to be prepared. The creation of EMPOWER will mean the formalization of that network. Seventy to over a hundred organizations from across Europe may eventually join. With a greater visibility of who we are and what we want, we are confident that authorities will lose much of their cold water fear to partner with NGO’s in emergency situations. We have some success stories from different countries which demonstrate that such cooperation is essential and can be very effective. In the situation where climate change increasingly causes problems in the breeding success of many seabird populations, the effective response to emergencies will become more and more important.”