French League For The Protection Of Birds News

A new wave of heavy fuel oil from a sunken tanker washed onto France's storm-battered western coast on Sunday, this time hitting the shores of Ile de Re, a jagged point below the northwestern peninsula of Brittany, whose sandy beaches and rocky inlets are a haven for seabirds - and tourists in summertime. More than 13,000 birds have so far been contaminated by the slick which hit the coast on Christmas eve, almost two weeks after the Maltese-registered Erika broke up in storms with 25,000 tons of oil aboard on Dec. 12. Over the weekend, the French League for the Protection of Birds reported the first seal snared by oil on a beach near Lorient.

A new wave of heavy fuel oil from the sunken tanker Erika washed onto France's storm-battered western coast last week, this time hitting the shores of Ile de Re, a jagged point below the northwestern peninsula of Brittany, whose wealth of sandy beaches and rocky inlets are a haven for seabirds - and tourists in summertime. The weekend's millennium festivities provided a distraction, but little respite for islanders and mainland residents as well as the fishermen, birds and mammals hit by the progressive oil invasion. More than 13,000 birds have so far been contaminated by the slick which hit the coast on Christmas Eve, almost two weeks after the Maltese-registered Erika broke up in storms with 25,000 tons of oil aboard on Dec. 12.