MV Sea Empress

The most visible effect of the spill was seen in the large number of birds covered in oil that were shown on television and in newspapers.[4] Amongst the birds affected were guillemots, razorbills and the worst affected bird, the common scoter duck. 83% of the birds affected were common scoter birds, and it is estimated that 5,000 of the 15,000 population in the area were killed.[5][6] The RSPB set up a temporary bird hospital in Milford Haven to try to treat as many birds as possible. This centre is now a storage area but in the aftermath of the Sea Empress disaster it became a hive of activity where many birds were showered and cleaned as best as possible. Unfortunately, the life expectancy of a cleaned Guillemot or Razorbill that was oiled once it was let back into the sea was a very short 9 days. Members of the public also helped rescue the birds.[4] It was later revealed in a study by the British Trust for Ornithology that the average survival time for a rescued oiled Auk (Razorbill or Guillemot) was seven days.[6]

Although the Sea Empress ran aground near to a breeding area for the grey seal, the time of year meant that only a small number of seals were in the area. Although some seals showed signs of oil on their coats, there is no record of a seal dying as a result of the spill.

201 kilometers of coastline were covered in crude oil.[6]

The total cost of the cleanup operation was approximately £60 million[7][8]

It took almost five years for the coastline to be fully cleaned up and restored by the Pembrokeshire Council, Texaco workers and subcontractors, and wildlife conservationists. There was much speculation in the media at the time over the inherent lack of safety of single-hull tankers, particularly in view of the MV Braer disaster in Scotland just three years earlier; the Braer also being a single-hull vessel.