Dead puffins washed up in Minorca

Balearic environmental group GOB yesterday recovered four Puffins in Minorca and the sole survivor was last night being cared for in GOB's recuperation centre on the island. According to the organisation all four of the birds were covered in a thick layer of petroleum and had died as result of consuming the substance while trying to clean their wings. GOB said the Puffins, which could have originated from Britain, are the victims of tankers emptying their tanks in either the North Sea or the Western Mediterranean. During the winter Puffins migrate to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and settle some 30 miles off the Minorcan coast and there are fears there may be a slick closer to home just off the island.