Oil Spill

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with cleanup and recovery efforts relating to the oil spill in the Gulf. According to the Chief of Emergency Management for Sarasota County, the ever-changing nature of the oil spill, coupled with health and safety concerns, limits volunteer roles. Volunteers will not be in direct contact with oil or oil-contaminated materials. Oil-contaminated materials will only be handled by trained, paid workers such as BP Qualified Community Responders (QCR) and not by volunteers. Oiled wildlife will only be handled by trained, BP contracted professionals.  This information and more can be found at www.volunteerflorida.org.

At www.mote.org/oilresponse you will find a sign up form where you can register to help with efforts in Southwest Florida and the Florida Keys should volunteer efforts be needed. Additionally, that site provides links to sites providing official information about the spill and fact sheets produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about the spill and its effects on animals, coastal areas, fisheries and more.

The page also contains a link to an article written by Mote Marine Laboratory's President, Kumar Mahadevan, as well as a link to a recent report by Dr. Frank Alcock (head of Mote's Marine Policy Institute) regarding the exploratory drilling for oil and natural gas in the Gulf.

Mote will be updating this page regularly, so please check back often.