asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many seal pups died from the effects of poison in their mothers' milk following the use of detergents against oil from the "Christos Bitas".

None, so far as is known. A large proportion of the pups would have been weaned before any detergent was applied. Because grey seals—the species found off the coast of South Wales—do not feed while suckling their young, they would have been unlikely to ingest detergent and pass it on. This is supported by the preliminary results of a post-mortem analysis of a small sample of pups.