By Steve Gorman and Alan Devall LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The carcasses of five petroleum-soaked pelicans have been recovered from California’s Santa Barbara coastline, the first apparent sea bird fatalities stemming from the oil spill to be documented by officials overseeing the disaster response. The tally was reported Friday by the joint-agency command for cleanup and recovery operations in Santa Barbara and Dr. Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian from the University of California, Davis, who heads the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. The body of a dolphin with no visible signs of oil also turned up on Friday in Santa Barbara Harbor, though a post-mortem exam must be conducted on the carcasses of the dolphin and birds to determine conclusively whether or not they were victims of the spill.
Tally of oil-soaked wildlife, alive and dead, mounts in California
