The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have given us the following update about the sticky man-made mineral oil that has been such a disaster for so many seabirds:
“The analysis of the material affecting seabirds along the south coast of England has shown that it is a mineral oil. The material is odourless and of low toxicity. To date the whitish material has only appeared on the coastline as a coating on seabirds. The public are advised not to handle seabirds, recognising that not all similar materials found on the beach will necessarily be the same substance. The birds will be dealt with by trained personnel. If live birds are found, please call RSPCA on 0300 1234999.
The number of live seabirds affected currently stands at just over 300 and the majority of these are being cared for by the RSPCA. Roughly 300 seabirds have also been found dead in the same area. Most of the seabirds have been found in the Portland/Ferrybridge area of Dorset but others are from elsewhere along the Dorset coast.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has been working closely with other Government Agencies: the Environment Agency, the Marine Management Organisation, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and Natural England to determine the source of the material and the impact it has had on seabirds. This type of material is widely transported by vessels along the English Channel and to date the polluter has not yet been identified. The MCA and partner agencies will continue to try and identify the source of the situation."
The RSPB is also aware of smaller numbers of similarly affected birds reported from Devon and isolated reports of individuals from Cornwall, Isle of Wight and West Sussex and Belgium.
Monitoring of beaches to record affected birds has been led by conservation NGO staff and volunteers, including the Chesil Beach and Fleet nature reserve, Dorset Wildlife Trust and RSPB, with the RSPCA leading on retrieval of live casualties.
The source of the oil remains a mystery.
This issue highlights the need for better management of our marine environment. Good systems won’t stop occasional accidents, but a well managed marine environment will help populations of marine wildlife bounce back when disaster does strikes.
A proper network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is a much needed part of this solution – and current government proposals for MPAs in and Scotland fall pitifully short of what our sealife needs. Watch this blog for how you can help get our sealife the protection it needs in the coming weeks.
Here’s how you can help TODAY. Another essential for a healthy marine environment is a decent Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). We have a once in a decade opportunity to change the current policies which have failed wildlife and fishermen alike. MEPs are voting in Europe tomorrow on CFP reform – give wildlife a voice and show your support at www.paintafish.org