sea birds being washed up on uk south coast

uk.news.yahoo.com... it seems these birds are covered in an unknown sticky substance that is causing the birds to be unable to fly no one seems to know what the sbstance is or where it has come from

reply to post by astra001uk


a strange sticky substance huh? wonder if it's related to death and the decay of living flesh.

Strange..

Hundreds of birds have been washed-up along the south coast, covered in an unidentified "creamy, waxy substance".

"At the moment, the best guess is there are around 100 birds ashore, and there are concerns the birds are affected in as widespread a region as from Cornwall to Sussex," he explained.

I have no idea what it could be. I'll be watching and waiting for the outcome.
s&f

"We would urge anyone who finds any of these birds to contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

eta:

We do not know what this substance is or where it has come from yet, but we do know it is not fuel.

So fuel can be ruled out. Maybe someone dumping waste?

It will most likely turn out to be the illegal, or accidental dumping of substance by shipping, if not that the result of liquid storage tanks being flushed illegally by ships in the channel traffic lanes which unfortunatley is all to common an a occurance off the south coast.

reply to post by hotel1


Yes, sadly, I think you will be right ,its so wrong on so many levels but common for the sea to be used as a dumping ground

Last week (I think it was) we had some really bad weather, with strong winds (when compared with those that we usually have) and strong rain, but what was strange was that the windows, after the rain, looked like if the water drops that were left on the glass had some wax-like substance, I even tried pass my finger over them and the marks remained, unlike the normal rain drop marks.

I wonder if it was the same substance and what that substance is.

Originally posted by ArMaP
Last week (I think it was) we had some really bad weather, with strong winds (when compared with those that we usually have) and strong rain, but what was strange was that the windows, after the rain, looked like if the water drops that were left on the glass had some wax-like substance, I even tried pass my finger over them and the marks remained, unlike the normal rain drop marks.

I wonder if it was the same substance and what that substance is.

Can we assume that you live in the south of England?

reply to post by hotel1


I don't live in the south of England, but as I live in Portugal I live south of England.

reply to post by ArMaP


Understood thanks

Just saw on the news the rspca are using margarine to help break down the substance.

Originally posted by astra001uk
uk.news.yahoo.com... it seems these birds are covered in an unknown sticky substance that is causing the birds to be unable to fly no one seems to know what the sbstance is or where it has come from

Ok, I know this thread hasn't been active for a bit but i'm going to update anyway.

6 February 2013 Last updated at 14:49

A substance which has been covering birds on the south coast is an oil additive, a university has said.

BBC News

It seems they have come to a conclusion as to what was covering these birds.
According to Plymouth University, it was a form of polyisobutene (PIB), which was used as a lubricating additive in oils to improve performance.

Polyisobutylene is a colorless to light yellow viscoelastic material. It is generally odorless and tasteless, though it may exhibit a slight characteristic odor.

As a fuel additive, polyisobutylene has detergent properties. When added to diesel fuel, it resists fouling of fuel injectors, leading to reduced hydrocarbon and particulate emissions.[3] It is blended with other detergents and additives to make a "detergent package" that is added to gasoline and diesel fuel to resist buildup of deposits and engine knock.

wiki

Prof Rowland said he was aware of only one other incident of the "relatively common" substance being spilled in 1994.

But despite spills being "comparatively rare", he added that it would be difficult to trace the source.

He said: "It's probably transported around the world.

"Whether we can find out if it was spilled would require a cargo sample to compare it with."

BBC News
Sounds like we'll never know who's responsible. Hopefully they saw it covered on the news and will think twice next time. Probably not.