The number of dead and distressed seabirds found on the south coast increased dramatically over the weekend. Hundreds of birds, mostly guillemots, but also a smaller number of razorbills and puffins, were washed up on beaches in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.
After five days of reports of birds being found covered in a sticky, oily substance, the area affected seems to have widened. Meanwhile the proportion of dead birds among those washed up has increased.
Locals and visitors alike spotted hundreds of stricken seabirds on beaches around Looe at the weekend. At Wembury Marine Centre near Plymouth, Devon Wildlife Trust staff and volunteers discovered twenty dead guillemots on the small beach there on Sunday.
More: Devon Wildlife Trust
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Pollution may ‘wipe out’ a generation of seabirds
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/pollution-may-wipe-...
Beginning to wonder just for how long we are going to continue to act this way, especially when you read in the Independent's piece about the substance covering the birds:
When you consider that a lawn care/garden practitioner is legally bound to record all pesticide transactions - that includes purchases, disposals and applications - one wonders what audit trail exists when it comes to tank cleaning and chemical dumping at sea?