Emphasis must be on prevention of oil pollution. It is a myth to believe that clean-up is ever successful. As well as the major accidents that make the headlines, such as the Erika tanker disaster off Brittany last December, which is still causing problems for seabirds now, leakages and smaller accidents collectively add up to about ten million gallons a year. The results are devastating. Thousands of birds, fish and sea mammals die and the marine ecosystem suffers lasting disruption.
Seabirds are the most immediate victims.
About 60 per cent of all birds found washed up on British beaches are covered in oil and along the Channel this figure can be as high as 75 per cent. Marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals may be able to avoid the oil slicks but risk starvation as the food chain becomes polluted. Fish and shellfish may have a tainted flavour or be killed, putting fishermen out of jobs. Last December a one-ton slick hit the Phillip Island Nature Park near Melbourne, home to another of the world's biggest penguin colonies. In 1998, cargo ships carrying timber caught fire and leaked 50 tons of oil into the North Sea off Germany.