Dead dophin creates stir
I'm not sure why but I found the following story particularly compelling:
In short, it about a couple of bystanders helping a local wildlife volunteer push a dead dolphin to shore, none of which had permits to do so. No charges were filed fortunately as local officials rightly recognized that they were just trying to help. But it brought to mind the question of whether there is a tacit or implied good sumaritan clause in any state or federal legislation dealing with protected species. Sort of like the CPR/First Aid training good sumaritan law that protects a person from litigation if they try to save another persons life.
The bit that was particularly compelling was one of the helpers saying "It was very cool," she said. "I'll remember this forever.". It strikes me that we are not making the best use of our opportunities to educate the public about dangers facing sea turtles and, in this case, marine mammals. Instead of always keeping the public at arms length from protected species, what about inviting them to interact with the animals in controlled circumstances. For example, the public could sign up to go along on stranding recovery runs or sit in on necropsies. Doing so would provide an excellent opportunity to educate and hopefully an experience they will "remember forever".