Queen's Day in France

In the research into litter in the stomachs of fulmars, there is cooperation with the Groupe Ornithologique Normand (GONm) in France, among others. During a working visit to GONm in early May 2007, the Dutch delegation was severely embarrassed.

Thanks to a strong north-eastern wind, many Dutch party balloons started to wash ashore: a trail of the Queen's Day celebrations in the Netherlands that reached at least 800 km! In the days that followed, during victim counts of oiled birds in the vicinity of Le Havre, more than 10 balloons per kilometre of coast were registered. The mass of the "senders" were advertising companies.