Former Strictly star Hamza Yassin visited Pembrokeshire with Datshiane Navanayagam to explore how wildlife recovered from the devastating 1996 Sea Empress oil spill.

BBC's Hamza Yassin
BBC’s Hamza Yassin was speechless over the footage (Image: BBC)

Sunday evening’s Countryfile saw presenters Datshiane Navanayagam and Hamza Yassin explore the environmental aftermath of the 1996 Sea Empress oil disaster at a Welsh location.

The BBC programme opened with the pair describing how the incident ranked among Britain’s most catastrophic environmental calamities, before heading to the Pembrokeshire site.

Ex-Strictly Come Dancing champion Hamza explained: “At the entrance to the port of Milford Haven, a ship called the Sea Empress ran aground and thousands of tonnes of oil spilt into the sea.”

Datishiane described the fallout as ‘devastating’ for both local residents and wildlife populations.

Throughout the broadcast, Hamza viewed archive material documenting the massive spillage and subsequent recovery operations, reports Wales Online.

He observed: “There’s just people mopping up that looks like mud, but you know it’s not mud. It’s crude oil that’s spilt all over the place.

“I’ve never seen anything like this and I hope that I don’t see anything like this ever again. What happened on that day was an absolute disaster. I feel sorry for the humans, but more importantly, I feel sorry for the wildlife.”

Historical footage showed an oil-soaked bird receiving assistance from a rescuer.

An oil clean-up in Wales
The oil spill happened in Wales back in 1996 (Image: BBC)

Upon identifying the species, which he regularly encounters in the wild, the Countryfile host emphasised the bird’s typically immaculate appearance.

He remarked: “Here, I’m struggling to figure out what species it is because it’s covered in so much oil.

“I could only tell by the shape of the beak and the sound that it’s making. It’s so sad to see this.”