Otters need our help, too!

I recieved the following email just now. Please read and, for the love of the Earth TAKE ACTION! When I signed and submitted my signature to the petition, they still needed 13,000 signatures. Please help the oceans and all life within and without that depend on it staying oil free. Thank you.


Big Oil has our coasts in its crosshairs, and that could mean oily otters and other marine wildlife and befouled beaches along America’s coasts.

Offshore drilling proposals now being advanced in places like Florida, California and Virginia threaten marine wildlife and local economies that depend on clean, healthy beaches. And President Obama called for more offshore drilling in his State of the Union Address last month.

Tell President Obama’s Ocean Policy Task Force that you support responsible management of our ocean resources and OPPOSE offshore drilling that could threaten America’s vital coastal ecosystems.

Members of President Obama’s Ocean Policy Task Force are charged with ensuring responsible stewardship of our oceans, so we must make the dangers of offshore drilling and irresponsible development clear to them.

The task force is only accepting comments from the public until this Friday, so please sign our petition today.

Offshore oil spills could threaten sea otters, threatened and endangered sea turtles, a variety of marine birds and other wildlife with extinction.

Just last year, a drilling rig off the coast of Australia created an oil spill that stretched more than 250 miles and covered thousands of square miles of ocean with oil slicks -- exposing dolphins, birds and other wildlife to poisonous petroleum with disastrous impacts on the area’s sensitive marine ecosystems.

If such a spill were to occur off the coast of California, threatened southern sea otters could be doomed to extinction. Likewise, a spill off Florida’s coasts could decimate the beach habitat that threatened and endangered sea turtles need to survive.

New offshore drilling activities and infrastructure could also hasten the extinction of American’s threatened polar bears and endangered bowhead whales.

Planned drilling by Shell would put a 514-foot-long drill ship and an armada of support vessels in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea -- a vital hunting area for polar bears and key migratory route for bowhead whales. The noise and disturbance caused by such activities could disrupt whale migration and make the search for food even more difficult for polar bears that are already losing the sea ice they need to hunt and survive.

Help protect our ocean wildlife. Sign our petition and urge Obama’s Ocean Policy Task Force to prioritize good science and wildlife protection as it decides how our coastal resources will be managed.

Unfortunately, overfishing, pollution, climate change and other threats have pushed our ocean resources to the brink. Without careful planning, we could lose some of our most treasured marine wildlife and risk the many benefits that come with clean, sustainable oceans.

Please take a moment right now to sign our petition to Obama’s Ocean Policy Task Force.

Our oceans stand at a crossroads, and we have a choice: responsible, science-based management of these precious places OR oily otters and other wildlife and industrialized oceans.

It’s up to us to make our voices heard and ensure that the Obama administration makes the right choice for future generations. Please take action today.

With Gratitude,

Richard Charter Senior Policy Advisor, Marine Programs Defenders of Wildlife