 Hundreds of dead fulmars were washed up on beaches in 2004 |
Volunteers will be combing beaches in the east of England this weekend looking for dead seabirds. They will be counting the number of bodies as part of a national survey for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
The information gathered will be used to see if the birds died from natural causes, starvation or pollution.
The survey follows a disastrous breeding season last year in which thousands of seabirds starved to death.
Chris Durdin from the RSPB's eastern region office said: "We want to find out how many dead seabirds there are out there on the beaches.
"The volunteers will see what conditions those birds are in - partly to see whether they are oiled, and also to know something about the cause of death."
Last year hundreds of fulmars - a gull-like seabird that can live for 45 years - were washed up on the east coast after dying of starvation.
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