Eyes Over the Salish Sea: IOSA Drone Program

When an oil spill occurs in the San Juan Islands, the first few minutes are everything. Oil is moving with the current. Shorelines are at risk. Responders need to know immediately how far the spill has spread, which sensitive areas are threatened, and where to deploy containment equipment first.

Until recently, that assessment happened entirely at ground level. Slow, limited, and often impossible in the remote locations that make up so much of San Juan County's 174-island archipelago.

Not anymore.

IOSA now operates a DJI Matrice 4D Enterprise drone — professional-grade aerial technology that delivers real-time overhead imagery of spill patterns, affected shorelines, and optimal boom placement directly to our team, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Washington Department of Ecology. What used to take 30+ minutes of ground-level reconnaissance now takes 5-10 minutes from the air. Our Deputy Director Rick Winings is FAA Part 107 certified and operational.

But one certified pilot and one drone isn't enough for a 174-island archipelago.

Your GiveBIG gift builds out the next phase of IOSA's drone program — training six additional volunteer pilots to FAA Part 107 certification, adding two DJI Mini 4K training drones so pilots can develop skills before flying our primary response aircraft, and equipping two teams with a Starlink Mini kit for live aerial streaming directly to Coast Guard and Department of Ecology during active incidents.

That last piece matters more than it might sound. Right now, responders on shore and agency partners miles away are working from radio descriptions of what's happening on the water. Live overhead streaming changes that entirely — putting real-time eyes on every incident for everyone who needs to see it.

San Juan County sits at the intersection of some of the most ecologically sensitive and heavily trafficked waters in the Pacific Northwest. Maritime traffic is growing. In the past three years alone, IOSA has responded to 38 oil spill incidents. The need for fast, effective, technology-driven local response has never been greater — and IOSA is the only immediate oil spill response organization in the county.

We are a community of 50+ trained volunteers and two dedicated staff. We have been protecting these waters since 1985. And with your support, we are building the tools, the technology, and the team to do it for decades to come.

This is IOSA's first year participating in GiveBIG. We recently earned 501(c)(3) status and are building the community-based donor support that will carry this organization forward. Your gift — whatever the size — is a direct investment in the protection of the Salish Sea.

Help us see what's coming. Help us protect our Salish Sea.