The number of birds in the various bird shelters in the Netherlands has now risen to around seventy oil victims. This is from Ostend in Belgium to Terschelling, reports the national reporting center SON Response, to which Ecomare on Texel and Wildopvang Helderse Vallei are affiliated.
Birds become ‘punctured’ by the oil
A guillemot has just been brought in to Den Helder by the Animal Ambulance. The animal is buried with a number of conspecifics who look brown from the oil. “The feathers are covered with oil. This causes them to become leaky. They can no longer float and if they do not wash ashore, they will drown. Many dead birds have also washed ashore,” says Bep Naber of the wildlife shelter.
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