Seabirds are being washed up on Sussex shores coated in oil.
Dozens of guillemots and razorbills have died already despite rescue attempts by animal carers.
Reports of birds struggling with oil-clogged feathers have been coming in since Thursday.
Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service officer Billy Elliot said 25 birds had been washed up between Littlehampton and Southwick alone.
He said: "I have heard more than 200 have been washed up between Sussex and Kent. Obviously there has been a large spillage out at sea affecting these birds."
The source of the oil is not yet known.
Staff at Solent Coastguard had reports of a baby cormorant washed ashore in Littlehampton on Sunday, covered in oil.
Some creatures are believed to have been washed up in Newhaven and at Norman's Bay, near Pevensey.
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