Birds swept away by the sea

There have been continuous strong storms in our coasts during last weeks. As we have seen, the damage caused by the swell in harbours and areas closed to the sea have been numerous and we could see in the news horrifying images of the damage caused.

Common Murre swept away by the sea at the beach of Laga (2014/02/15)

Besides, we could see in the media that a big number of sea birds were appearing dead or dying on the beaches of the Cantabrian coasts.

Laida beach after a strong storm.

Most of the appeared birds belong to the family of alcids, birds that spend the winter on the high seas as Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Common Murres... These birds are adapted to bad conditions that they find off-shore, but so many strong and continuous storms end up their strength and they end getting weak or dying to be swept away by the currents of the coast.

Images of the lasts storms from Antzora and Mundaka

We must not forget that during these storms many of these birds died because of the fuel intakes or impregnation of this substance produced by some boats when they are cleaned.

Although this weekend the sea hasn't got so rough as in previous weeks, we could find some dead birds on the beaches of Urdaibai.