Seabird feathers as monitors of the levels and persistence of heavy metal pollution after the Prestige oil spill

► Seabirds as sentinel species of levels and persistence of heavy metal pollution after oil spills. ► Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, V in chick feathers of Phalacrocorax aristotelis and Larus michahellis. ► Chronic oil pollution in the marine food web for at least three years after the Prestige oil spill.