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BirdLife:Oiled sea birds unexpectedly increased
« on: Jan 4th, 2003, 12:00am » |
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For members information, press release by BirdLife Internation on "Prestige" oil spill
Quote"
Attn BirdLife Network and staff
The number of dead oiled seabirds recovered from the "Prestige" oil spill in Spain has unexpectedly increased over the past week, according to the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife).
Details are contained in the attached news release.
Best regards
Michael Szabo
Communications Manager
BirdLife International
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Number of dead oiled birds recovered in Spain reaches new peak;
SEO/BirdLife predicts a further increase
Cambridge, UK, 3rd January 2003 -- The number of dead oiled birds recovered from the Prestige oil spill in Spain has unexpectedly increased over the past week, according to the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife), the BirdLife International Partner organisation in Spain [1].
After a period of two weeks in which the number of dead oiled birds recovered averaged between 20 and 30 per day, the daily average more than doubled to 72 per day after 26th December 2002. In the Province of A Coruña 359 dead oiled birds were collected in five days.
On 28th December 2002, a total of 102 dead oiled birds were collected, the highest figure for a single day since the Prestige oil tanker sank in November. The number of live oiled birds recovered has also increased, but not as dramatically.
"The total number of affected birds (live and dead) recovered in the Province of A Coruña now exceeds 2,000, bringing the total number recovered in Spain to 5,000. However, only a small proportion of the birds affected - approximately 10% to 20% - are being recovered by our volunteers", said SEO/BirdLife's Seabird Campaigner, Carles Carboneras.
SEO/BirdLife has estimated that the total number of birds affected during the first month of the Prestige oil spill (16 Nov - 16 Dec) was between 20,000 and 40,000. The most affected species continue to be Puffin, Guillemot and Razorbill (77%). Other species affected include Gannet and Cormorant.
It appears that changes in weather conditions and wind direction have blown more dead oiled birds towards the coast during a period of continued winter migratory movement, which during the past week saw more seabirds arrive off the coast of Galicia.
"The increase in the number of dead oiled birds being found so long after the initial slick occurred is significant because it is almost unique amongst oil spills, and is without doubt related to the continued leakage of oil from the sunken wreck of the Prestige, said Carles Carboneras.
"All the indications are that oil from the Prestige will continue to affect the coast of Galicia as long as it continues to leak from the wreck. SEO/BirdLife therefore predicts that in the coming weeks the number of oiled birds affected will be even higher when more diverse species move into the area in February," he said.
Photographs of seabirds are available for one-off media use at:
http://www.birdlife.net/news/thumbnails.cfm?NewType=P&NewRecID=735
For more information please contact Carles Carboneras of SEO/BirdLife in Galicia on +34 615 454 353 (mobile) or +34 8819 14770 (office) or Michael Szabo at BirdLife International on +44 (0)1223 279 903 (office) or +44 (0)7779 018 332 (mobile).
Web links:
www.birdlife.net/oilspill
www.seo.org
Notes for Editors:
1. BirdLife International is a global alliance of non-governmental conservation organisations working in more than 100 countries who, together, are the leading authority on the status of birds, their habitats and the issues and problems affecting bird life. The BirdLife Partnership is represented in Europe by 40 organisations working together on The BirdLife International European Programme to conserve birds across the region, and includes the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife), RSPB in the UK, LPO in France and SPEA in Portugal.
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