To mark the 10th anniversary in February 2006, the Countryside Council for Wales has published a commissioned research report that reviews what is known of the long-term environmental impacts of the spill. The reports' headline is that nature can indeed fight back and that the recovery of the natural environment in this case has been remarkable.

Jon Moore, an expert in oil spills and the author of the report on behalf of CCW said:
"There are now only a small number of places where signs of the oil spill can still be seen. These amount to small sections of shore where there are some tarry deposits and one or two places where it is possible that there is still some residues in the mud."

The report paints a picture of a remarkable comeback:

Birds:

The most enduring image of the spill is the sight of blackened seabirds, such as guillemots, razorbill and shag. More than 2,000 dead or oiled seabirds were collected. Monitoring showed that the decline in numbers immediately following the spill seems to have been temporary, and the long-term upward trend in Wales' seabird populations continues. Another species of concern was the common scoter, found in Carmarthen Bay. The oil that drifted into the Bay is known to have killed at least 3,500 of this black sea duck, but the numbers recovered to pre-spill level within three years.

Mammals:

There is no known impact on marine mammals such as dolphins and seals, nor indeed on mammals such as otters that use the seashore or bats that make use of the sea caves.

Shores:

In the aftermath of the spill, thousands of shellfish and other marine animals were washed-up onto the beaches. This meant that there was a dramatic impact on the food chain - and a visible sign of this was more seaweed on some shores. However, the vast majority of shores and shallow seabed affected, returned to normal within two to five years. In some localised places there is still some evidence that, for example, some lichens and rock pools have not yet recovered completely. These areas are very small compared to the area that was impacted.

Blaise Bullimore, CCWs Senior Marine Conservation Officer in West Wales remembers the spill:
"For all sorts of reasons like the time of year, the weather and the way the spill was managed, it was not as bad as it could have been. Even though the lasting impacts of the Sea Empress spill now seem to be so few, we must not rest on our laurels. It could have all been a very different story."

Read more from Blaise on the spill and clean-up.

Dr Bill Sanderson, CCW's Senior Marine Monitoring Ecologist said:
"This report, coupled with all the research and monitoring by so many different people and agencies in the wake of the spill gives us an encouraging overview of the state of marine life 10 years down the line. It provides another valuable insight into what impacts to expect and how to detect them."

Dr Andy Hill, CCW's Marine Industries Liaison Officer believes we should be better prepared if an incident like this happens again.
"By learning from the past we can make the best possible contribution to dealing with any future environmental accident and get the best possible outcome for nature conservation."

The Countryside Council for Wales say they are taking practical steps to be better prepared for the future. Some of the steps include:

Developing of an interactive CD-rom that pinpoints the location of vulnerable wildlife and habitat hotspots around our coasts and how these can change from season to season.

Provision of training for staff, and periodic exercises to refresh skills and evaluate the effectiveness of the CCW's plans, as well as further training for dealing with post-spill assessment and response.

Developing contingency plans for incident response and guidance on the approaches and options for monitoring the long-term recovery of species and habitats after an oil spill.

Contributing to planning by local multi-agency Environment Groups established under the National Contingency Plan for marine pollution.

More on the CCW website

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