More than 1 000 dead birds have been found along Estonia’s Baltic coast following a presumed oil spill from a ship, a spokesperson for the environment ministry said on Friday in Tallinn.
Some of the dead birds, mostly snow geese, seagulls and swans, had ingested oil, while others had oil on their feathers, the ministry said.
The worst-affected area is a 35km stretch of coast in the north-west of the country, near the Gulf of Finland.
The Estonian government has ordered an investigation into the accident, the clean-up after which is expected to take days as dirtied birds and lumps of oil continue to be washed ashore.
The WWF said it believes Estonian authorities underestimated the extent of the disaster and that at least 5 000 birds were probably killed by the spill.
Estonian officials estimate that about 20 tonnes of oil have been spilled in the Baltic Sea and say that witness accounts and ship records will be examined in a bid to find the offending vessel.
The WWF and Estonian environmental experts have complained the fragile ecosystem of the Baltic Sea is not being adequately protected against oil spills. — Sapa-dpa