Animal rescue activists and volunteers battled against sleet, snow and northerly winds in Galway's Claddagh Basin yesterday to save up to 120 swans affected by serious pollution.
Galway Corporation said it was determined to identify the source of the incident and to effect a prosecution under the Water Pollution Act. Up to 20 swans were covered in oil, while another 100 were badly coated. Members of the Galway Swan Sanctuary and Galway's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) appealed for help from the public.
Galway Harbour Company gave the local authority a boom to prevent the birds going out into the bay, and the harbour master, Capt Brian Shelter, gave a warehouse to shelter the birds.
Most had been taken there yesterday evening and members of the Swan Sanctuary, led by Mr Tony Luff, and the GSPCA were trying to clean them down. Some were ingesting the oil as they tried to preen their feathers.
Galway Corporation's senior executive engineer, Mr Michael Joyce, said samples had been taken and were being sent for further examination. He estimated that around 50 gallons of light fuel had been washed down the sewers into the river, and a combination of heavy rain and high winds on Sunday had compounded the problem.
