Oiled birds nursed back to health

Most of the birds brought to the RSPCA's centre were guillemots

Birds contaminated by pollution from the wrecked MSC Napoli ship off Devon and treated in Sussex are recovering.

Hundreds of seabirds came to an RSPCA wildlife rescue centre in Fairlight to be nursed back to health after the vessel was grounded last month.

An oil slick several kilometres long and 30 metres wide formed, leading to the deaths of an estimated 600 birds.

The RSPCA said 174 out of 190 oiled birds were still alive and making "excellent progress despite the odds".

The birds, mainly guillemots, have been rehydrated, cleaned and rehabilitated and have been put back on water at a huge pool in the centre, a spokeswoman said.

Release to sea

She said the birds had been weighed, and flushed with charcoal to absorb oil from their stomachs, and their clogged feathers had been cleaned with detergent.

The charity is set to release the birds back into the sea after they have been treated.

Oiled birds were taken to sites further around the coast because charities in Devon were overwhelmed by numbers affected.

Oil is deadly for the birds, burning their skin and damaging their internal organs.

It also damages their feathers, and reduces the thermal insulation which keeps them warm.