Alpaca hair collected to fight oil spill, but will it help?

A couple in their 70s is driving down from Vermont with a load of alpaca hair.

There's a tractor-trailer-full coming from Ohio.

And about 6 tons of the same stuff is on the way from alpacas in South Florida.

The destination is Destin, with the hope of making a difference in the fight against the sprawling oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Whether those responsible for the cleanup want that help, however, is a big question.

Members of the Sunshine and Shores Foundation, along with other groups across the country, are collecting hair and pantyhose to make sausage-shaped booms they say will soak up the oil from the water or the beaches.

Human hair, dog hair, cat hair, sheep hair, even hair from alpacas, which are native to South America and resemble llamas. Or alpaca fiber, as some call it.

It's all good, said Billie Golden, the group's founder and president.

"It's been phenomenal how everyone is pulling together,'' Golden said. "People don't even know where Destin is and they want to help."

Hair salons are sending clippings. Pet stores that offer grooming services are doing the same with hair from four-legged critters. Even Hanes is getting into the act, donating 50,000 pairs of pantyhose.

For those doing the math, that equals 100,000 pantyhose booms. Cut off the legs, stuff them full of hair and tie off the ends.

"It looks like a big old hair sausage,'' Golden said.

But it will take a lot of sausage to clean up a mess this size.

"The technology is viable. It could be effective, it depends on how much hair you get,'' said Ryan Toomey, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of South Florida. "Whether or not we have enough hair on hand to make a viable difference, I don't know.''

The hair-pantyhose combination sucks in between 5 and 50 times its weight in oil, he said. And you can wring out the oily material from the hair and use the device again.

The pantyhose booms could be used to help get a leg up on smaller coastline areas, Toomey said, but he doesn't see them being used on a larger scale.

"I doubt BP will be lining up to use this," he said.

The biggest question is whether the oil company or federal officials want the help being offered. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a statement recently saying, "Recent reports of a need for hair are exaggerated and not helpful to the response effort."

A BP representative didn't go that far today.

"Right now it's being considered," said Rebecca Bernhard, a spokeswoman for the oil company at the command center in Robert, La. "If it is a product that we can use, then we will inform the organization."

BP is focused on stopping the oil continuing to gush a mile below the Gulf waters, Bernhard said.

"Right now it's such a massive effort out in the Gulf to stop the oil flow," she said. "In tandem with that, we are looking at other options. We will use those that best fit the need."

Those collecting the hair and hose hope BP and others keep an open mind.

"We see how their efforts are going right now, and I hope they are willing to try this," Golden said. "There are several places along the Gulf that are making them. It's been proven in the past that they do work."

Sherry Leslie, who owns nearly 100 alpacas on her Brooksville farm, is one of four alpaca fiber collectors in the state in the bid to help the Sunshine and Shores Foundation.

"We're hoping to get at least 6,000 pounds for them,'' said Leslie, who hopes to gather a lot of hair at a University of Florida event Saturday. "We're going to be collecting like crazy.''

Alpacas are sheared once a year, Leslie said, with the fiber being sold for shawls, scarves, suits, ties and other items. Shearing an adult male can generate 10 pounds of hair or fibers; an average of 5 to 8 pounds is gained from other alpacas.

"We're hoping we can save some animals' lives and we can help people save some people's livelihoods,'' Leslie said. "Anything that happens to the world's waterways should be of concern to everyone.''