Overview
- SEO/BirdLife’s consolidated logs count more than 800 strandings across Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria, with most birds found dead.
- Local authorities in Bizkaia report recovering about 400 puffins, with only six survivors according to regional tallies.
- Ringed individuals confirm wintering puffins washing ashore in Spain include birds that breed in the United Kingdom.
- Public-health guidance urges people not to handle carcasses as Galicia’s government activates avian influenza protocols and directs reports to official hotlines.
- Some specimens show hydrocarbon staining under investigation, with preliminary French analyses pointing to legacy fuel residues and Spanish experts also considering chronic illegal discharges.