Sea birds rescued after oil spill in Irish Sea

Dozens of sea birds have been rescued from the Irish Sea after an oil spill off the Isle of Man coast.

Workers from the Manx Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) have brought in about 50 birds.

All of the birds rescued have been Guillemots, a species normally found well off shore or nesting on cliffs during the summer.

Jenny Corrin, from the animal charity, said some of the birds were completely covered in oil.

She added: "Some of the birds had been preening themselves and so the oil is actually going right through them now, so we are worried about which ones we will manage to save and which ones we are going to lose".

Dead birds

After several emergency call-outs over the weekend, animal welfare officers collected the birds with nets and then took them back to the MSPCA centre at Ard Jerkyll in Foxdale.

The birds were then cleaned with detergent and put under heat lamps to dry.

In addition to those rescued, MSPCA workers found seven dead birds in Port Erin and three in Peel.

Seven have died at Ard Jerkyll, despite treatment by welfare officers.

Director of Harbours Captain Michael Brew said information about the oil spill was scarce and the Isle of Man government did not know where the oil originated from.