SEA BIRDS HEAVILY MUTILATED BY SLUDGE FROM TANKER

Since last week dead mutilated sea birds drift ashore on the beaches in the North of The Netherlands. It turns out that the birds were covered by a poisonous cleaning product used to clean holds of tankers. It seems this tanker was used to transport vegetable oil, probably sunflower oil. The Dutch national institute for water management will research the toxic ‘sludge’ and the justice department will research the options for criminal prosecution.

According to a spokesman of the water management institute the substance contains sulphur, heavy metals and organic components. As long as it is not exactly clear what it was that was dumped in the sea, it will be impossible to track down the perpetrator.

A specialist that already researched many birds that were afflicted by mid sea oil dumps also analysed some of the birds that lately washed ashore. After his research he concludes the following: ‘It is a very aggressive substance, wherein even feathers, the eyes and the horn of the beak were totally dissolved. The birds were naked to the bone. When I took the birds out of the plastic they were totally unrecognisable. Only at bone structures I could see what kind of birds it was. I bird that would normally weigh around half a kilo, but with the substance stuck to the corpse it was now weighing 6 kilos.

January 15, 2006