This is sad,bad news as it was looking like we would miss the worst of it. We at Sea Trust have over the years been involved in picking up injured seabirds as well as grounded shearwaters, Over the past twenty years we have established a long list of contacts within the county, particularly in the north. who contact us if and when they find injured /dead birds.
I have taken the liberty of spreading Lisa's message on our social media, but I expect we will get quite a large response from them when people find dead birds and expect someone to do something.
Until now Defra etc have not been particularly responsive, either because they have not the available resources to respond quickly or have not contingencies in place for if the problem escalated as it appears to have done.
It occurs to me that if volunteers could be trained and supplied with PPI and allowed to pick up dead birds, it could make a significant impact in preventing cross contamination. It is just a thought, but worth discussing, if a meeting could be put together with Defra, and organisations such as ours in the very near future.
allthingsgood, cliff Sea Trust.