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as, “U.S. Bureaucracy Halts the Rescuers of Sea Otters,” and “Rescu-
ing Animals Diffi cult: Scores of Otters Likely to Perish,” the public
swamped the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Inte-
rior with letters and telephone calls demanding the dedication of all
available resources to the task of saving otters. The press’s combi-
nation of “sea otter-as-symbol” with “sea otter-as-victim,” according
to one report, “resulted in the involvement of an emotional pub-
lic in virtually every aspect of sea otter activities.” The Fish and
Wildlife Service was accustomed to acting within “the rational
environment of a hermetically sealed science community.”^50 Now,
each action was delayed, probed, and challenged, fi rst by the press
and then by a hostile public. Staff members had to divert precious
time from their rescue-related activities to conduct interviews. In
sum, the interest generated among the media and the public by
the “teddy bears” of the sea signifi cantly slowed rescue efforts and
related decisions.
Weighing the Costs of Rescue and
Rehabilitation
The sea otter publicity following the Exxon Valdez spill demon-
strates that the public will demand action, even when those respon-
sible for that action are still considering what to do. Media images
of birds and wildlife being cleaned and cared for reassure the pub-
lic that something positive is being done. Recent research sug-
gests, however, that the costs of rehabilitation might not always
pay off. One study examined seabirds who were rescued, cleaned,
and released after spills occurring between 1969 and 1994. On aver-
age, only 35 percent of the birds brought to rescue centers survived
to be released.^51 Eighty to 90 percent of rehabilitated birds died
within ten days of release, including many that had been deter-
mined to be healthy at the time (i.e., they were of healthy weight,
with normal blood chemistry and plumage). In a control group,
non-oiled birds of the same species had a life expectancy of a year
and a half. Another study tracked brown pelicans who were rescued
and cleaned after one of two southern California spills in 1990 and