The Nation : 1,100 Sea Birds Harmed in Oil Barge Spill

The toll of sea birds coated with oil spilled from a damaged barge near Ocean Shores, Wash., has topped 1,100 and rescue workers expect more as the week goes on. Pam Miller, a biologist for the state Department of Ecology, said 300 gulls, murres, grebes and scoters--their feathers and skin suffocated by the gooey, tar-like oil--have died. An additional 600 are being kept in cardboard boxes and being fed a solution of nutrients, smelt and ground-up trout food, but it is too early to predict how many will survive, she said. Ron Holcomb, another Ecology Department spokesman, said that 200 more sea birds were spotted too far out in the Pacific Ocean off Ocean Shores to capture. The spill occurred just after midnight Friday, when a tug towing the 301-foot barge Nestucca lost its tow line and the two vessels collided.