plumage yet) sitting upright at the base of a cliff in a nook. Expecting it to still be alive I approached slowly, I picked it up & found rigor mortis had already come; the Murre had died in sitting position or leaning back on its tail in penguin fashion. Speaking to the natives (resources), they said the oil had arrived day before yesterday. As a whole the oil seems to [float] pretty close to the shore at all times which is probably due to prevailing westerlies and wave action. Thus only the birds that feed in close are affected - this may or may not be true. The following is a summary of how the various ways I think the birds are killed by the oil, directly or indirectly: (1) Covered completely with oil while in the sea allowing them to be water logged and eventually drown (later throw up by surf)