Heavy fuel oil has stained hundreds of puffins and terns on the famous bird island of Hornøya in Finnmark. The cause of the oil spill is not yet known.
Since last week, oil-stained birds have been observed on a distance of tens of kilometers on the northern shore of Varanginvuono between the towns of Vuoreija and Vesisaari. Puffins and southern terns injured by the oil have been found the most. Both species are endangered small seabirds.
Most of the birds die because they are unable to dive for food and freeze to death due to the oil stained plumage.
Most of the birds affected by the oil have been found According to Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK On the island of Hornøya in front of Vøreija. Oil-stained birds have been spotted tens of kilometers away on the northern shore of Varanginvuono.
Birds that have fallen victim to the oil have also been observed from the bird cliffs of Ekkerøya, which is almost 60 kilometers west of Vuoreija. On the same rocks, bird flu killed tens of thousands of little kajavi last summer.
A representative of the Norwegian Environment Agency interviewed by NRK by Christer Michaelsen according to, a significant part of the stained birds will die.
The origin of the oil pollution has not yet been found out and it is not known whether the oil has also killed birds in the open sea. The oil can come from ships, wrecks or also from a spill from land.