North Sea ships collision puts thousands of seabirds at risk from oilspill contamination

                                                                              

Seabirds in peril - Gannet breeding colony at Flamborough Head

PUFFINS are among thousands of seabirds thought to have been imperilled by oil spilled from  today's ships collision off the East Coast.

The birds will be gathering in this part of the southern North Sea ahead of arrival next month at the important Yorkshire breeding cliffs of  Flamborough and nearby Bempton where the RSPB has one of its most important reserves.

Not only are the birds at risk of potentially fatal plumage contamination but also of loss of marine prey such as sandeels.

Other species at risk include Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Red-throated divers and sea ducks such as Scoter.  

Further down this stretch of Yorkshire coast is Spurn Bird Observatory where staff and volunteers will be on alert for casualties in the coming days.

There are also worries at the mouth of the Humber Estuary which is currently home to thousands of shorebirds, such as Curlew, Knot, Sanderling, Turnstone, Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwit. 

There is a particularly important high tide roost of these species on the south beach at Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire.   

Any oil spill blown onshore could contaminate  the mudflats where they are feeding prior to their migration later this month to breeding grounds in Scandinavia and the Arctic.  

Among the first conservation organisations to comment on the incident were the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, both of which issued statements (below) identifying the risks to wildlife including Grey Seals and cetaceans.

Perhaps surprisingly given its large contingent of  media officers, nothing so far has been forthcoming from the RSPB