iRescuing the birds

Oil-soaked birds? There’s an app for that.


Oil-soaked birds? There’s an app for that.

University of Massachusetts researchers said they created the iPhone app, because there are too many sick birds, and not enough official scientists to find them:

“The new app allows anyone who finds an oiled animal to be linked automatically by the phone to the Wildlife Hotline and also to contribute photos of the stranded animal and its GPS location coordinates to a database here on campus,” UMass Amherst wildlife biologist Curt Griffin said in a news release today.

Each report will alert wildlife stranding networks to deploy experts to rescue live animals for clean-up and medical treatment. Photos of oiled wildlife plus the GPS location will also be uploaded to MoGO’s comprehensive database for review by wildlife and fisheries experts using a Web browser. Users are also encouraged to upload their photos of dead marine and coastal wildlife, tar balls on beaches, oil slicks on water and oiled coastal habitats to the MoGO database.

You can find the app here. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade will post submitted photos and reports here.