On December 12, 1999, the 30,000-ton tanker Erika broke apart 100 km off the coast of Brittany, one of Europe's most pristine natural environments. France immediately launched a prepared countermeasure, the Polmar plan, designed to minimize the impact of the disaster on the sea and shore. In spite of the relatively small amount of fuel released, the location of the spill in high seas and the bad weather conditions caused the pollution to spread widely along the coastline over a number of weeks. Wildlife centers were mobilized to handle the anticipated load of 1,000 oiled birds. In the end, more than 15,000 birds were captured alive. The sea birds impacted were mainly guillemots and, to a lesser extent, scoters and gannets. TotalFinaElf helped the triage centers by providing finances, medical material, water-heating facilities, and several automated bird-washing devices with specialized detergent. The group funds the medical studies undertaken on the oiled birds in the triage center of the National Veterinary School (ENV) of Nantes. It also works in partnership with the French National Bird Rescue Association to improve the emergency response plan by defining their needs in terms of equipment and to provide a consensual “oiled-bird caring protocol” manual.

This report will both assess the existing response program by detailing the chronological implementation of the emergency plan for the oiled birds and present the first results of the medical studies undertaken. It will detail the types of birds impacted, the methods by which they were cured and cleaned, an analysis of their condition, the efforts made to improve the treatments, and, most importantly, the medical questions raised by such a situation.

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