Between Emery and Jo, Traveler gets at least a half a dozen news releases a day from which we select items (or not) considering the interests of our online and print readers.

Jo just couldn’t pass up this one from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, since the story managed to combine Jimmy Buffett, Gulf oily bird rescue, and most importantly, something called a SWAT (Shallow Water Attention Terminal) boat. SWAT boats, it seems, are built on a flat hull, and are designed to draft only 8-10 inches of water carrying a 40 HP motor through shoreline marshes. Their purpose is to serve as a workstation for people monitoring and cleaning oily birds or doing research on oil damaged wildlife. Buffett got involved bankrolling the project because the crews for the first boat came from the University of Southern Mississippi, his alma mater, and well– because he’s Jimmy Buffett. He’s apparently donated one of the boats (designed and built for the Gulf crisis) to the friends organization of a shoreline Wildlife Refuge in Alabama.

So what does this have to do with Southeast Missouri?
Let’s see…8-10 inch draft and 40 horse motor…marshes…um…swamps…let the imagining begin!

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Unified Command Wildlife Recovery Efforts to Benefit from Specialized Boat
Donated by Dragonfly Boatworks, Entertainer Jimmy Buffett

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Today, Alabama Unified Command’s efforts to recover
wildlife along the Gulf Coast were enhanced with the donation of a special
boat from singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.

The popular entertainer has donated a boat to help recover oil-soaked
wildlife. The boat, built by Dragonfly Boatworks in Vero Beach, Fla., was
designed specifically to navigate the shallow waters and marshes of the
Gulf Coast to retrieve injured wildlife.

The boat will play an important role in the efforts of Alabama Unified
Command to ensure that local wildlife are rescued and transported to
rehabilitation centers.

The vessel was given to the Friends of the Bon Secour National Wildlife
Refuge, a non-profit organization that supports Bon Secour National
Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is located in coastal Alabama and is managed
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Alabama Unified Command is excited to be working with the local community
to do all we can to address the needs of wildlife affected by the oil
spill,” said Pete Benjamin, a Fish and Wildlife employee with Mobile
Wildlife Operations. “This new asset will improve our efforts to rescue
wildlife and ensure that animals are cared for and rehabilitated.”

“We are going to ensure the boat is provided to the wildlife recovery
teams, which will patrol the shallow areas around Bon Secour and Grand Bay
National Wildlife Refuges along with other sensitive places,” said Ralph
Gilges, President of the Friends of Bon Secour NWR.

Shallow Water Attention Terminal (S.W.A.T.) boats are built on a flat hull
and operate in waters as shallow as 8-10 inches. This particular boat was
designed by Mark Castlow and Jimbo Meador, co-owners of Dragonfly
Boatworks, who recognized the need for a boat with the ability to operate
in shallow waters and marshy areas.

“The folks from Dragonfly Boatworks are thrilled to help: I’m excited we
have a relationship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and that the
boat will be used for what it was intended,” said co-owner Jimbo Meador.

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Manager Jereme Phillips lauded the
duo.

“Castlow and Meador recognized a need, identified a solution, and made it
happen with the help of Jimmy Buffett,” said Phillips. “Friends of Bon
Secour National Wildlife Refuge, our refuge support group, closed the loop
to facilitate the donation by accepting the boat on behalf of the Refuge.
We are immensely grateful to Mr. Buffett for his gift and concern for our
treasured wildlife.”

The Dragonfly co-owners have been working nonstop for weeks to modify a
popular design for shallow-draft fishing boats, literally turning them
into mobile triage wards for oiled wildlife. Designed specifically with
wildlife rescue in mind, it has a canopy to protect workers and birds from
the sun and a table to make it easier to examine wildlife. The boat also
has a misting system to provide further cooling and is equipped with Wi-Fi
and video cameras to enable remote viewing of the rescue operations.

The boat is scheduled to begin wildlife recovery operations during the
week of July 19.
Greg Vergari, wildlife recovery operations coordinator, will be selecting
a two-person crew trained for the safe recovery of injured wildlife. The
crew will follow standard wildlife rescue protocol, which quickly
transports recovered animals to nearby treatment centers.

“The S.W.A.T boat will be added to the fleet of 14 wildlife recovery
boats, and it will work initially around our local national wildlife
refuges,” stated Vergari. “The crew can inspect habitat conditions for oil
contamination while they search for injured wildlife.”

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is one of Alabama’s best-kept secrets
and protects a variety of habitats. For more information on Bon Secour,
log on to: http://www.fws.gov/bonsecour/.
For information about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill response effort and the
Unified Command, please visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.

Contacts:
Bonnie Strawser, USFWS, 252-216-8667
Denise Rowell, USFWS, 251-656-3490
Jimbo Meador, Dragonfly Boatworks, 251-610-0082