Bird Victims
Those who go down to the seaside in holiday times will not; I fear, find any improvement in the dispersal of oiL The refuse still makes some bathing beaches on the West Coast offensive to man and beast, In places even the fish suffer, for the botany of the floor of the sea is affected. Sea-birds, of course, are the worst sufferers. If they swim into a patch of this oily waste, they usually die of it ; and those who find the sufferers often decide that the kindest action is to put an end to their sufferings. To save them is not easy, but it can be done. Careful treatment with petrol will restore the fouled feathers to their proper use ; and the birds have on occasion shown an altogether surprising sense of the doctor's treatment. Some international efforts have been made to put an end to the ejection of these waste oils from ships ; and it should be as unnecessary to foul the sea with the sort of oil that troubles the water as to poison the rivers with the pollution of towns. The question is, of course, essentially international and should, concern international agencies ; but Britain might very well take a lead and set an example.
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