I've noticed for some time that the labels on Dawn soap bottles sometimes have photos of Arctic creatures on them like a seal or bird.

But I never really made the connection between the soap and animals until I read an Associated Press story Friday in which that brand was mentioned.

Meanwhile, concern grew about animals and plants on the ecologically fragile coastline. A rescue operation at Fort Jackson, about 70 miles southeast of New Orleans, had its first patient Friday, a young northern gannett found offshore. The bird is normally white with a yellow head and long, pointed beak but was covered in thick, black oil. Workers with Delaware-based Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research use Dawn blue dishwashing soap to scrub any oil-tainted animals.

I didn't know this. Evidently, I missed this commercial: