Sea Birds Contaminated by Petrol Oil : the Role of the Clay by C

Sea birds contaminated by petrol oil : the role of the clay by C.B.

February 17 2008, C.B. found a young Guillemot (Uria aalge) sea bird on the coast of the Pas-de-Calais, France : it had petrol oil (mazout) all over himself, from feet to beak. He was sitting prostrate on the sand of the beach, desperately trying to warm himself up in the sun.

CB sprinkled dry powder clay on and around every spot and area with petrol, so that the bird would not poison himself trying to clean up with his beak. Then he put the guillemot in a dry cardboard box. The clay adsorbs the petrol, combines with it and forms pellets that fall to the bottom of the carton. According to CB, This is the best treatment for birds who have been contaminated by environmental toxins. It needs to be done again from time to time, until the bird’s feathers are glossy again (3 to 4 days for the worst cases).

This simple method does not give the animal any stress, whereas the usual manipulations, bath and rinsing - sometimes done with a machine – takes an awful toll on the animal. And then the birds, already exhausted on arrival, lose the little energy they have left to dry themselves. Washing them also destroys the natural sebum oil that covers the feathers and seals them from the water.

With CB’s technique, the bird remained confident and slept well, resting in its box, where it warmed up naturally. Having not been handled by human hands or a machine, it was not stressed, nor tired by any effort. It did not have to use up any of its energy.

The only difficulty was to find adequate food for the guillemot, which feeds exclusively on sprats and sardines. Since the bird feels confident it eats well. And it has to be released as soon as possible, otherwise it would want to stay and refuse to leave.

CB states that people in rescue centers are not very enthusiastic about this method, because a grayish bird with black spots here and there seems dirty. But in fact the clay pumps up all the toxic waste, and there is no problem if the bird eats some of the clay : on the contrary it forms a protective lining in his stomach, and it even repairs the mucous membranes in the digestive track. This is exceptional, since petrol swallowed by sea birds most often irreparably damages their digestive system. Clay is a well known remedy for gastro intestinal problems in medical and veterinarian clinics, it does a lot more good for the animal than swallowed soap! Clay is not only chemically neutral but it is healthy for digestion.

Caution : petrol oil is extremely carcinogenic and all contact with the skin must absolutely be avoided by all means. CB states that his dog developed a tumor on his leg after he had been contaminated with some petrol on that same spot and did not have the benefit of clay...

This guillemot was transferred to a care center in Calais when he was nearly clean, and ate 700 grams of sardines there in three days.

Other sea birds with some petrol contamination have been found on the coast of the Pas-de-Calais. Since the beach is clean, this contamination was probably due to illegal offshore degassing (oil tank cleaning).