On November 7th the Cosco Buson oil spill dumped 58 000 gallons of contaminating bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay, which is toxic to living organisms, especially birds, as it impedes their natural ability to thermo-regulate their bodies, deteriorates their feathers, making them vulnerable to disease and illness, or killing them as they attempt to remove it from their feathers themselves and accidentally ingest it. Many residents of the surrounding areas offered their support, getting professionally trained to clean contaminated beaches reached by the oil.

A group of second graders at French American International School, in San Francisco, were distressed by their powerlessness to confront this disaster, as they were not of age to participate in the cleaning of the beaches. Having seen heartbreaking photographs of the birds coated thick with oil on in newspapers and on TV, they inquired if their teacher could advise them on how they could help out. With the help of the teacher and one student's mother, the second graders discovered their opportunity to aid the suffering birds. They could collect towels and sheets to send to the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) headquarters.

Since 2001, the IBRRC has held their headquarters at the San Francisco Bay Oiled Wildlife Care and Education Center in Fairfield, California. This facility can house around one thousand birds in need of care, and contains a specialized state-of-the-art washroom, with the proper technology and equipment to fully cleanse wildlife infected with bunker fuel.

The second grade class did an art project to demonstrate the horror of the oil spill. They drew and colored beach landscapes, and drew and cut out marine birds which were then collected. Some bird drawings were randomly selected to be covered with black plastic, representing the bunker fuel. The children did not want their birds to be covered, and were able to perceive the deep effect the oil spill has. After this, the children of the second grade class were able to collect and deliver two full carloads of towels and sheets for the IBRRC to use during the cleaning of birds affected by the oil spill.

The efforts made by everyone to help with the response to the oil spill has lead to many victories in the fight against the oil contamination. So far, the people at IBRRC have been able to clean 783 oiled birds, and to release 317 into Tomales Bay which is a safe clean spot. These are great results, however there is still work to be done, as there are 1060 birds still in care. For more information on the progress of the wildlife restoration and oil spill response refer to http://www.ibrrc.org.