The dead herring in Kolgrafafjörður, West Iceland, has attracted flocks of birds. However, when the fat of the rotting herring turns to oil, so-called grútur, it can prove dangerous for the birds. Two eagles have been spotted that were covered in fat.
An eagle in Breiðafjörður, near Kolgrafafjörður. Archive photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.
“We saw two fat-covered eagles the day before yesterday and tried to catch them but they managed to fly away. Yesterday we went back with increased manpower … but couldn’t find them,” Róbert Arnar Stefánsson, director of the West Iceland Institute of Natural History, told Morgunblaðið.
Birds feasting on herring in Kolgrafafjörður. Photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.
“It doesn’t look good. We must continue monitoring the situation and when these are rare species or species under protection we will do all we can to catch them,” Róbert stated, adding that the institute’s next patrolling of the area will be no later than Thursday.
Click here to read more about the masses of herring that died in the fjord and here to read about the condition of eagles in Iceland.
ESA
