Sea World Rescue helping out with Santa Barbara Oil Spill

Those of you not in Southern California may have missed the news, but we are facing a pretty big environmental disaster just north of Santa Barbara in the way of an oil spill. 

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Written by Gregg Condon

Along with the ecological impact to the ocean and beaches (and inevitable tourist impact) there is of course the impact to marine life. And of course, as always our friends at Sea World are stepping up. 

What seems to be different this time around are the people who are usually very quick to bash Sea World are now thanking them for stepping up to help these defenseless animals who didn't ask for oil to be drilled in their back yard. 

Those of us following Sea World for years know that this is nothing new for them, there are literally tens of thousands of animals they've saved over the years. 

This seems to be a classic case of "out of sight, out of mind" and now that it's in our area people are beginning to notice a bit. 

Of course, it's sad that it takes a major thing like this oil spill to get people to realize the good that Sea World does. Hopefully this most recent disaster will open up some eyes to what Sea World can really do. 

Photo via Mike Eliason-Santa Barbara County Fire Dept. PIO

A little closer to home, for me at least, was this beautiful Sea Lion at nearby Channel Islands Harbor (where we've spent many a weekend afternoon). Apparently he had gotten struck with some kind of home made spear by some jerk and the Coast Guard had been trying to capture him for days to help him. 

Of course, before I had even clicked on the video above I knew we'd see some Sea World Rescue jackets and even on our local newspapers Facebook page there were again lots of thank you's to Sea World. 

For us, marine life around our beaches and harbor are as much a part of life as going to the beach or any theme park. 99.9999% of people around here respect the sea life and do whatever we can to make sure they have a safe and clean environment. 

If you ever find yourself in Ventura County take the time to rent a Kayak on the harbor or just walk around the Channel Islands visitor center. It really is a treat and you can get a sense of the community for both the animals and the non-marine life locals (that's us). 
But back to Sea World ... we want to personally take a moment to thank them for what they are doing out here. 

Not sure if this oil spill has gotten much coverage outside of Southern California (and sadly it's not getting as much coverage here as it should as some celebrity is surely up to something that's more important). 

If you are local and would like to help with the cleanup you can find that info here

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