Coast Watchers

Coast Watchers: We encourage everyone to take date-stamped photos and video of the Franklin County coastline. Read about Coast Watchers for more details. When you’re out there documenting your beautiful, healthy, productive shore, be sure to keep a close eye for impacts from the BP Oil Disaster. The most likely sign in our part of the Gulf of Mexico will probably be tarballs or tar mats. Thankfully, we’ve had no impacts yet.

Coast Watchers will work within the coastal communities where they live or visit and commit to do the following:

• Report injured or oiled animals to the Wildlife Distress Hotline: 1-866-557-1401
• Report oiled shoreline to: 1-866-448-5816
• Report a change in Air Quality to: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/

Coast Watchers are not permitted to enter off-limit areas to obtain observations and must not make contact with oiled wildlife, vegetation, and beaches due the health concerns associated with contact.

Citizens wanting to become a Coast Watcher do not require any special training or registration. However, they should be conscious of the coastal environment in their community. If a Coast Watcher observes contaminated wildlife, vegetation, or shoreline, it should be reported immediately to the numbers above.