About Lee Fox and SOS

SHE “SAVES OUR SEABIRDS”

Lee has worked in wildlife rehabilitation for over twenty-two years. In 1990, she founded Save Our Seabirds in St. Petersburg (formerly known as the Pinellas Seabird Rehabilitation Center); the facility has been awarded permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Lee has and continues to guild efforts to rescue and rehabilitate hundreds of native and migratory birds each year.

In 1991, Lee worked with major oil companies, environmental groups, state officials, and the U.S. Coast Guard to develop an oil spill response plan for the Tampa Bay area consistent with the 1990 Oil Pollution Act requirements. Within ten short months, the plan was put to the test when the Tampa Bay channel experienced a devastating 365-barrel oil spill. Lee managed more than 3,000 volunteers over a three-month period to minimize the impact of this tragedy on the local seabirds. An unprecedented 85% of the birds affected - a total of 371 were saved! In recognition of her efforts, Lee received eleven separate awards from the U.S. Coast Guard and other environment groups.

Lee developed the first Oiled Wildlife Preparedness Program and Training Manual for the Tampa Bay area. She designed and equipped Florida’s Oiled Wildlife Response Mobile Unit at the request of the Florida Department Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Tampa Bay National Estuary Program.

Education and outreach has always been a major focus of SOS. Lee has created and implemented numerous educational programs, including the highly successful “Don’t Cut the Line!”, and education program for fishermen initiated in the Tampa Bay watershed area and now in use in other parts of Florida (particularly the Keys) as well as other states such as California. Other SOS education and outreach campaigns include Seabird Savers, Don’t Feed the Birds!, Consequences of Feeding the Birds, How To Care for Baby Birds, a number of marine pollution prevention programs and a variety of broad based education programs geared to young citizens in grades K-12.