Department of Veterinary Pathology, Veterinary Field Station, Neston, Wirral, Cheshire, Great Britain
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Great Britain
Abstract:
Following an oil spill at Sullom Voe Oil Terminal, Shetland, at least 13 otters died. Post-mortems on five corpses showed that they had died of haemorrhagic gastroenteropathy, associated with ingested oil. The primary cause of oil ingestion seems to have been grooming of the fur. A survey of the polluted coasts revealed that otters were still present throughout most of the area.