MYSTERIOUS ‘OIL’ KILLING SEABIRDS
Government sets up €50K fund to aid stricken wildlife
“Painted by the great Italian artist around 1605-09 and believed to have once been part of the private collection of Phillip IV of Spain, the painting is one of around only 60 known works by Caravaggio in existence, and thus one of the most valuable old master artworks in the world.”
In April 2022, Spanish authorities halted an auction of the work, which was then attributed to a disciple of a 17th-century Spanish painter, Jose de Ribera.
They put an export ban on it after the museum alerted the government it could be a Caravaggio.
TOP secret documents from D-Day invasions were found in the boot of an old Ford Escort and donated to a museum.
The maps and planning papers relate to the allied ‘Gold Beach’ invasion, part of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.
The documents were hidden for 80 years after the war inside a suitcase in an old Ford Escort.
They are on display in at House on the Hill Toy Museum in Standsted, England.
A SERIES of photos captured deep underwater reveals the luminous beauty of the ocean and the creatures hidden to most of us. These include a huge jellyfish, a
THE source of the pollution that has led to the deaths of some birds off Ireland’s east coast remains a mystery.
Nature Minister Malcolm Noonan has established a €50,000 emergency fund for the “oiled” seabirds and wildlife.
Around 100 seabirds have been picked up following the incident, with a number dying after coming into contact with the mystery substance.
Impacted birds have been sighted between north Dublin startling Mediterranean moray and a fluorescent sea slug.
The marine snaps were taken as diving season began in the city of Balikesir in Turkey. and as far south as Carnsore Point in Co Wexford.
Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the source after Coastguard efforts to locate it in Irish waters proved unsuccessful.
Pollution
The Star contacted the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Natural Resources Wales and HM
IN TOO DEEP: Another view of the jellyfish; (above) a sea slug
Coastguard.
A HM Coastguard spokesperson said: “HM Coastguard has no current reports of pollution or oiled wildlife in the Irish Sea.”
The Welsh agency said it also had no reports of “oil pollution along the coast”. DEFRA is yet to respond but we have asked them whether they think there could be a possible link between an oil spill on the River Mersey at the end of April and the incident. Noonan said: “The situation that has emerged along the east coast is shocking.”
Birdwatch Ireland has been helping with the operation.