Birds Found Mysteriously Covered In Oil Off Southern Calif. Coast

SAN PEDRO (CBSLA) - Hundreds of seabirds were found covered in oil in the San Pedro area, but there was no oil spill. So where did the oil come from?

The birds - mostly Western grebes - were coated in a natural oil seep that bubbles up to the ocean's surface.

"They end up on the beach essentially starving and very dehydrated so not only are we dealing with a contaminated bird
but we're also dealing with a sick and debilitated bird," said Kylie Clatterbuck, manager for International Bird Rescue.

Most of the birds are coming from the Ventura and Santa Barbara coast, where Clatterbuck says more natural seeps tend to occur.

While there's been a huge increase in affected birds in recent weeks, staffers at IBR stay quiet and move quickly to keep the birds calm and stress-free.

"We automatically switch into emergency mode and do whatever we can to make these birds go through the care and rehabilitation process so they can be released as quickly as possible," she said.

The birds are expected to stay at the rescue for about six weeks until they're released back into the wild.