These are the consolidated numbers of collected fish and wildlife that have been reported to the Unified Area Command from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), incident area commands, rehabilitation centers and other authorized sources operating within the Deepwater Horizon/BP incident impact area.

At this phase in the response, field-level staff will document all injured or dead fish and wildlife encountered in the impact area.  This document reflects only the initial, field-level, evaluation and does not reflect a final determination of the cause of injury, or death.  Not all of the injured or dead fish and wildlife reflected in these numbers were necessarily caused by the Deepwater Horizon/BP incident.  Official designations of cause of death will be determined at a later date.

Part of the long-term assessment process is to carefully examine and determine the cause of death or injury for impacted fish and wildlife.   Some fish and wildlife reported here have likely died or been injured by natural causes, not due to the oil spill.   Due to the increased number of trained people evaluating the spill impacted areas, it is also likely that we will recover more naturally injured or dead fish and wildlife than normal.

Once found or captured, collected fish and wildlife are given an identifying number that will follow it throughout the evaluation process.  Collected fish and wildlife are given an initial examination to search for broken bones, external oil or other injuries. As needed, this may be followed by a more thorough examination to search for less obvious injuries, such as oil in the mouth, throat or eyes. An additional step may include a partial or full necropsy (an autopsy for animals) to help determine the exact cause of death if possible. 

** These numbers are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time the report was created.  The numbers of injured and dead fish and wildlife, as well as the cause of injury or death, are not official until verified.  The categories on this report -- visibly oiled, no visible oil or pending -- are not an official determination of cause of death.

NOTE: It is normal for reported numbers to fluctuate between “visibly oiled,” “no visible oil” and “pending.”  If staff are unable to make a determination at a field location, the number will be placed in the pending column and evaluated as soon as possible.  Once a determination is made, the number will be moved from “pending” to the appropriate column.

CORRECTION: The June 6 Consolidated Fish and Wildlife Collection Report contained incorrect information.  No dead birds associated with the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill have been collected in Texas as of June 7, 2010.  The mistake was made during data input.