Hundreds of sea birds are being slaughtered off Bermuda -- sparking outrage among conservationists.

Yesterday Government's conservation officer Dr. David Wingate pointed an accusing finger at fishermen.

"It should shame all of Bermuda that people should stoop to such barbarism. I call it a sea of slaughter.'' He claimed some fishermen -- angered at the birds eating their bait and getting hooked on lines -- embarked on an orgy of killing.

There was evidence, he said, of fishermen: Clobbering the birds -- greater shearwaters -- with oars; Wringing their necks; Cutting their throats; Firing flares at them; and Even luring them with bait to kill them deliberately.

Dr. Wingate said in the last few days at least 50 bird carcasses had washed up along the South Shore.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. We are talking about hundreds of greater shearwaters being slaughtered.'' He stressed greater shearwaters were safeguarded by the Protection of Birds Act 1975.

"Under the Act it is illegal to kill these birds deliberately,'' he explained.

And he warned fishery wardens and the Marine Police would be put on the alert.

The Bermuda Audobon Society yesterday voiced concern at the killings.

Said president Mr. Jeremy Madeiros: "Something has got to done to stop this.'' Dr. Wingate said greater shearwaters migrated annually by Bermuda between mid-May and mid-July.

They flew in large numbers from the South Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha and the Falklands, to their feeding ground in Newfoundland and the Davis Strait off Canada.

"It is estimated there are four million of them. It is one of the great migration spectacles of the world, comparable to the passenger pigeons,'' declared Dr. Wingate.

"It is a long migration which takes the form of a figure eight. They fly in great waves, the adults first followed by the offspring a month or so later.

It really is a wonder of nature.'' Dr. Wingate explained the birds flew past Bermuda after crossing the equator and the Sargasso Sea.

"For them it is a desert crossing. Bermuda is near the end of that crossing.

"When they get here they are desperately hungry and tired by their migration, and they will greedily devour bait they see, and sometimes get hooked on the lines "Bermudians on land are unaware these birds are crossing. They are strictly ocean birds which don't come near land.

"The nearest they come is about one or two miles off shore.'' Dr. Wingate said greater shearwaters flew very close to the sea surface.

They were capable of diving up to 90ft below the surface to catch bait.

"Bermuda's waters are crystal clear so these birds can spot bait very easily.'' Dr. Wingate continued: "Unfortunately a few but increasing number of fishermen get so angry they embark on a frenzied slaughter.

"That to me is depraved, ruthless and totally unnecessary.'' Dr. Wingate said one of the problems with greater shearwaters was their fearlessness.

"This makes them very vulnerable if a fisherman becomes angry.'' He added: "One of the things that concerns me most from a conservationist's point of view if that these ocean birds have very low reproduction potential.

"It takes a long time for them to replace themselves since each bird can only lay one egg a year, and there is usually a fairly high loss of eggs.

"If the killings go on there could be an extremely rapid reduction of the population.

"This is just what happened to the endangered cahows. I have spent 40 years building up cahows and have only now doubled their population.'' Dr. Wingate believed the greater shearwaters were particularly "stressed'' this year.

This could stem from changes in the ocean brought on by ozone layer depletion.

It was thought ultra-violet rays from the sun had harmed plankton, dramatically changing the "food chains'' in the oceans.

Mr. Madeiros believed the migration of greater shearwaters could become a big draw for tourists.

In Britain and America there was tremendous interest in birdlife, he said.

"There is a lot of talk of eco-tourism these day. It seems incredible that we are killing what could become a big attraction.'' Photo: Tony Cordeiro.

OUTRAGED -- Dr. David Wingate surveys the carnage.