Cleaning seabirds

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32981, 29 July 1972, Page 11

Cleaning seabirds

A new method of cleaning oiled seabirds without destroying the water-repel lant property of their feathers has been developed by a research unit at Newcastle University in Britain. It is based on the use of certain household washing-up liquids. Many attempts have been made in the past to rescue birds whose feathers have become clogged as the result of oil pollution, using various forms of detergent to clean the plumage, but the result has been almost total failure. The birds have to be kept in captivity for months until the feathers have again become waterrepellant, and by this time they have become so tame that they have little chance of survival in the wild. The new method, which enables the birds to be released within three or four weeks, involves washing them in a hot bath of ordinary washing-up liquid, then rinsing them thoroughly with not water. The liquids, however, require carefullycontrolled conditions of temperature and concentration to be fully effective. It was also found that only certain brands of liquid gave consistently good results. Details of the method are included in a booklet, “Recommended Treatment of Oiled Seabirds,” price 25p, which may be obtained from the Department of Zoology. University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NEI 7RU, Englancf