Eateries blamed for oily sea birds

[caption id="attachment_36404" align="alignright" width="405"] SLICK AND TIRED: A cormorant covered in oily matter. Picture: EUGENE COETZEE[/caption]

OIL-SOAKED sea birds were spotted on Port Elizabeth's beachfront yesterday, sparking fears of a spill in Algoa Bay.

But the oily substance coating the birds – mostly cormorants – was later attributed to cooking oil from restaurants that had leaked into stormwater drains and onto the beach.

The birds and a strange substance seen floating on the water at a stretch of beach across the road from Bayworld had many passersby stressed – mainly about the sea birds – and fearing a possible oil spill.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality's coastal environment unit believes it could be cooking oil from restaurants in the Humewood and Summerstrand area that spilt into stormwater drains and subsequently leaked onto the beach or into the sea. - Riaan Marais