Horrifyinly, more dead seabirds were washed up on the shores around Portland, again covered in an oily substance. Another slick in February killed many more birds and the culprit has never been found, despite an investigation by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency. I wrote to the Minister following this disaster asking for confirmation on what ships were allowed to do when it came to washing out their tanks. The answer was not entirely convincing, in that ships are allowed to wash their tanks at sea under certain conditions. But, surely, this substance, which was later found to be polyisobutene (PIB), is deadly and should not be allowed in the sea at all. The horrible oil additive is used for a number of things including chewing gum, which I hate! The only encouraging news from the Government is that it and other European countries are investigating this process and will be submitting their findings to the International Maritime Organisation which can change the rules as I understand it. Let's hope they do because the current situation is totally unacceptable.