Road to recovery begins for Gilly the guillemot

MARINE life on a stretch of Yorkshire’s stunning coastline has been hit by an ordeal far worse than the late winter squalls of recent weeks after swathes of oil rolled in on waves driven by strong easterly winds.
A Guillemot brought into Scarborough Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary after being washed up as a result of an oil spill on the East coast earlier this week. Picture: Tony BartholomewA Guillemot brought into Scarborough Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary after being washed up as a result of an oil spill on the East coast earlier this week. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
A Guillemot brought into Scarborough Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary after being washed up as a result of an oil spill on the East coast earlier this week. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Visitors to the 15 miles of affected coast have been watching a clean-up operation led by environmental experts, who are desperate to limit the devastation caused to local habitats and species by the pollution.

Gilly, a bridled guillemot rescued from Scarborough’s South Bay, is one of the lucky survivors but the bird was discovered in a heartbreaking condition. The guillemot suffered severely clogged feathers and had swallowed some of the oil. For the time being, she is making a steady recovery in Scarborough Sea Life Sanctuary’s quarantine unit.

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Lyndsey Crawford, an animal care supervisor at the sanctuary, said: “Oiled birds usually go to the RSPCA. But they were reluctant to move Gilly too far and were happy we were giving her the right care and treatment.

An oiled black headed gull rescued from the oil slick. Picture: Tony BartholomewAn oiled black headed gull rescued from the oil slick. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
An oiled black headed gull rescued from the oil slick. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

“The suffering it (spilt oil) causes to wildlife and the damage to marine habitats is devastating and really distressing.”

Gilly’s feathers are already close to being free of oil once again and the bird is eating healthily after initially being kept warm in an insulated box.

At the moment, the bird’s home is a shallow quarantine tub where she is encouraged to swim around daily and preen herself. This treatment activates an oil gland which will restore Gilly’s waterproof coating and will eventually enable a return to the wild.

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Protected sea birds were among dozens of casualties of the incident and the team nursing animals back to health hope recovery will be just as swift for three rescued grey seals, all of which are about five months old.

Male seals Slick and Chunk were rescued from Scarborough South Bay and another beach Primrose Valley, while an exhausted female seal, Thelma, was washed up on Filey Brigg. They have been cleaned up in the Sea Life Sanctuary’s seal hospital and have been tube-fed a special charcoal solution to absorb any oil they may have ingested. When they can feed for themselves again, they will be moved into outdoor pools.

At least 20 birds are now known to have died after becoming caught up in the oil slick which has affected four tourism beaches including Scarborough South Bay, Cornelian Bay, Cayton Bay and Filey. A crisis team led by Scarborough Council was established quickly to lead the environmental respond.

The spillage was broken up by rough seas into putty-like chunks, some as small as 50p pieces and some as big as plates, deadly if eaten by pets or birdlife.

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Despite the clean-up operation this week, staff at the Sea Life Centre fear the crisis is far from over and have renewed calls for the rogue sea captain thought to be responsible for the emergency to be tracked down. Spotter planes failed to detect the 
source of the leak, believed to have been caused by a vessel illegally clearing its tanks off-shore.

Andy Jayes, the Sea Life Centre’s aquarist, said yesterday: “The danger now is for waders and shore birds which we will have much more trouble helping. The problem is they have to be at death’s door before we can catch them.

“The main problem with oil is that as well as being toxic it also strips birds of their waterproofing so they can’t feed and feel the cold.”

Officials believe the spread of oil has been contained since Tuesday but warning signs remain in place on beaches.

Surfers, bathers and dog walkers are advised to be cautious about pockets of oil which may yet reach the shore.