(Reuters) - Federal officials have joined an investigation into the mysterious deaths of young harbor seals, as the number of dead seals discovered on beaches across three states in New England rose to 49.
Seals began washing up on the beaches of northern Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern Maine last week, said Maggie Mooney-Seus, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's office in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
"Some of them have been decomposed," she told Reuters on Wednesday. "We're hoping we're not going to see a lot more. We don't know at this point what's caused it."
The densest cluster of seal deaths has been along New Hampshire's 18-mile coast, where 17 seal carcasses have been recovered since Friday, said Tony Lacasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium in Boston.
The aquarium has conducted autopsies on three of the least-decomposed seals and found that they all had an adequate layer of blubber to survive.
That suggests the young seals did not die because of a failure to develop hunting skills, which causes the natural deaths of about 30 percent of harbor seals after they are weaned from their mother, Lecasse said.
"The results were a little surprising to us," Lecasse said. "We're doing tissue sampling and have sent those out to labs across the country."
Results are expected next week, and could indicate whether seals died because of disease, toxins or another cause, he said.
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine are home to large populations of harbor seals, which occasionally draw great white sharks and other predators to their breeding grounds.
By Jason McLure
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-seals-idUKTRE7944N020111005
Showing posts with label mysterious deaths. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mysterious deaths. Show all posts
Friday, October 7, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
This Stinks: Anchovy Carcasses Fill Los Angeles Harbor
March 19, 2011
By ENJOLI FRANCIS
3/8/2011, 7:30 PM EST
Officials Rush to Clean Up in Redondo Beach After Mysterious Mass Fish Death
Hold the anchovies? Not in Redondo Beach, Calif.
Workers from various local agencies are still scooping hundreds of thousands of dead anchovies, mackerel and sardines from the waters at King Harbor Marina after a massive fish kill occurred there this morning.
"We have people on docks with skimmer nets and people on boats getting them out of the water," said Debbie Talbot of the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. "They'll be working well into the evening hours."
Talbot said the die-off was likely caused by severe winds that hit the area Monday night. She said the sea was rough and the fish may have been seeking safe harbor.
"There were so many of them, the oxygen in the water completely depleted," she said.
Talbot said that when the water was checked this morning, the oxygen level was at zero. Fish can survive in water with a level 5 or higher.
Staci Gabrielli, marine coordinator for King Harbor, told The Associated Press that the carcasses were so thick in some places that boats could not get out of the harbor.
The dead fish will be dumped back in the water, taken to landfills or recycled at plants.
Residents said they were not aware of anything that might have led to the massive fish kill.
"Yesterday everything looked absolutely normal," one man, Walter Waite, told The Contra Costa Times. "This morning when I got up, there were millions and millions of them floating everywhere."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=13086049&sid=81
By ENJOLI FRANCIS
3/8/2011, 7:30 PM EST
Officials Rush to Clean Up in Redondo Beach After Mysterious Mass Fish Death
Hold the anchovies? Not in Redondo Beach, Calif.
Workers from various local agencies are still scooping hundreds of thousands of dead anchovies, mackerel and sardines from the waters at King Harbor Marina after a massive fish kill occurred there this morning.
"We have people on docks with skimmer nets and people on boats getting them out of the water," said Debbie Talbot of the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. "They'll be working well into the evening hours."
Talbot said the die-off was likely caused by severe winds that hit the area Monday night. She said the sea was rough and the fish may have been seeking safe harbor.
"There were so many of them, the oxygen in the water completely depleted," she said.
Talbot said that when the water was checked this morning, the oxygen level was at zero. Fish can survive in water with a level 5 or higher.
Staci Gabrielli, marine coordinator for King Harbor, told The Associated Press that the carcasses were so thick in some places that boats could not get out of the harbor.
The dead fish will be dumped back in the water, taken to landfills or recycled at plants.
Residents said they were not aware of anything that might have led to the massive fish kill.
"Yesterday everything looked absolutely normal," one man, Walter Waite, told The Contra Costa Times. "This morning when I got up, there were millions and millions of them floating everywhere."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=13086049&sid=81
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Saga of the sardine apocalypse: why they died
Glenda Kwek
March 10, 2011 - 4:39PM
A "sardine apocalypse" in which at least one million dead fish were found floating in a harbour near Los Angeles on Tuesday may have been caused by a predator, strong winds or the fish simply getting lost, marine experts say.
Firefighters sank hoses to blast the fish to the surface while others vacuumed the carcasses and scooped them into dumpsters today in a clean-up estimated to cost about $US100,000.
The fish - mostly sardines but also mackerel and anchovies - had crammed into King Harbour at the back of Redondo Beach marina, reducing the oxygen supply in the water from eight parts to 0.7 parts per million, Redondo firefighter Pete Villasenor told local news website patch.com.
Without enough oxygen and as the tide went out, the fish died of suffocation.
"Everybody said it sounded like hail - all of the fish gasping for air," Bill Smythe, a sailor whose boat was parked in the marina, said.
At high tide, the harbour is only 6.7 metres deep. The fish were found about 30 centimetres deep on the beach and floating on the marina. Their deaths were labelled the "sardine apocalypse" and looked "as if Davy Jones himself had burped up a couple hundred years worth of lunches", the Los Angeles Times said.
The owner of a local fish bait shop, In-Seine Bait Co, Larry Derr, said the sardines were likely to have been preyed on by mackerel he had seen crowding the channel nearby a few days before.
There were so many mackerel that "guys were able to scoop them by hand".
"Chances are, between the mackerel and the seals, they kind of got cornered. And when the tide started going out - end of story."
Mr Villasenor said gusty winds may have been a factor, with fish scrambling for shelter on Monday night.
"It's like having a bunch of people falling into a cave and they can't breathe," he said.
"Here's what we know for sure. There was serious storm and wind activity for about a day and a half, gale force winds over 40 mph. They started making their way along and they found safe refuge in the harbour.
"Once that happened, they thought they had it made. They're pretty tired. They've realised it was a dead end. At that point they're trapped. They don't know how to get out. They suffocate. ... They ran [10 kilometres] as hard as they could and ended up in a cave and they're suffocating from their own carbon monoxide [sic]."
But Mr Derr cast doubt on the theory, saying fish usually swim deeper when there was bad weather.
"They're not walking on the water. Fish can handle the wind."
The California Department of Fish and Game, which sent samples of the dead fish to a lab for autopsies, believed the sardines simply got lost.
Spokesman Andrew Hughan said no chemical spills or oil sheens had been found.
"It is a naturally occurring - but unusual - event. It's just a mess," he told the Times.
Earlier theories that the fish were swimming away from a toxic algae bloom were abandoned after experts said there was no "red tide" in the area.
As officials and locals removed the fish from the harbour as quickly as they could - to prevent their decomposition from attracting bacteria that will take up more oxygen and threaten the survival of other marine life, sea lions and seagulls feasted on the fish.
"They are sitting there fat and happy," Mr Derr told the Times. "They don't know what to do with themselves; there are thousands of them."
Meanwhile in Spain, revellers were ceremonially carrying a small coffin containing a mock sardine on the streets as part of the annual "Burial of the Sardine" funeral procession, which is held in celebration of the countdown to Lent.
See photos at: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/saga-of-the-sardine-apocalypse-why-they-died-20110310-1bpa1.html
(Submitted by Rebecca Lang)
March 10, 2011 - 4:39PM
A "sardine apocalypse" in which at least one million dead fish were found floating in a harbour near Los Angeles on Tuesday may have been caused by a predator, strong winds or the fish simply getting lost, marine experts say.
Firefighters sank hoses to blast the fish to the surface while others vacuumed the carcasses and scooped them into dumpsters today in a clean-up estimated to cost about $US100,000.
The fish - mostly sardines but also mackerel and anchovies - had crammed into King Harbour at the back of Redondo Beach marina, reducing the oxygen supply in the water from eight parts to 0.7 parts per million, Redondo firefighter Pete Villasenor told local news website patch.com.
Without enough oxygen and as the tide went out, the fish died of suffocation.
"Everybody said it sounded like hail - all of the fish gasping for air," Bill Smythe, a sailor whose boat was parked in the marina, said.
At high tide, the harbour is only 6.7 metres deep. The fish were found about 30 centimetres deep on the beach and floating on the marina. Their deaths were labelled the "sardine apocalypse" and looked "as if Davy Jones himself had burped up a couple hundred years worth of lunches", the Los Angeles Times said.
The owner of a local fish bait shop, In-Seine Bait Co, Larry Derr, said the sardines were likely to have been preyed on by mackerel he had seen crowding the channel nearby a few days before.
There were so many mackerel that "guys were able to scoop them by hand".
"Chances are, between the mackerel and the seals, they kind of got cornered. And when the tide started going out - end of story."
Mr Villasenor said gusty winds may have been a factor, with fish scrambling for shelter on Monday night.
"It's like having a bunch of people falling into a cave and they can't breathe," he said.
"Here's what we know for sure. There was serious storm and wind activity for about a day and a half, gale force winds over 40 mph. They started making their way along and they found safe refuge in the harbour.
"Once that happened, they thought they had it made. They're pretty tired. They've realised it was a dead end. At that point they're trapped. They don't know how to get out. They suffocate. ... They ran [10 kilometres] as hard as they could and ended up in a cave and they're suffocating from their own carbon monoxide [sic]."
But Mr Derr cast doubt on the theory, saying fish usually swim deeper when there was bad weather.
"They're not walking on the water. Fish can handle the wind."
The California Department of Fish and Game, which sent samples of the dead fish to a lab for autopsies, believed the sardines simply got lost.
Spokesman Andrew Hughan said no chemical spills or oil sheens had been found.
"It is a naturally occurring - but unusual - event. It's just a mess," he told the Times.
Earlier theories that the fish were swimming away from a toxic algae bloom were abandoned after experts said there was no "red tide" in the area.
As officials and locals removed the fish from the harbour as quickly as they could - to prevent their decomposition from attracting bacteria that will take up more oxygen and threaten the survival of other marine life, sea lions and seagulls feasted on the fish.
"They are sitting there fat and happy," Mr Derr told the Times. "They don't know what to do with themselves; there are thousands of them."
Meanwhile in Spain, revellers were ceremonially carrying a small coffin containing a mock sardine on the streets as part of the annual "Burial of the Sardine" funeral procession, which is held in celebration of the countdown to Lent.
See photos at: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/saga-of-the-sardine-apocalypse-why-they-died-20110310-1bpa1.html
(Submitted by Rebecca Lang)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Millions of dead fish blanket Redondo's King Harbor Marina
By Larry Altman
Staff Writer
Posted: 03/08/2011 09:33:32 AM PST
PHOTO GALLERY
Millions of sardines created a massive stink and an even bigger cleanup effort in Redondo Beach's King Harbor Marina on Tuesday after they swam inside overnight, became trapped and died.
Twelve to 18 inches of dead sardines blanketed the water's bottom in Basin 1 off Marina Way. Another thick layer of dead fish coated the surface from the breakwall to the inner docks, surrounding boats and walkways.
Authorities with the California Department of Fish and Game, along with other ocean biologists at the scene, declared the mass death a natural event. The fish, they said, sucked every drop of oxygen from the water and couldn't breathe.
"They are in every slip and every dock," said Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan. "It's a whole lot of fish."
Hughan said authorities believe the huge school of sardines, perhaps blown in by the night's 40-mph winds and crashing waves, swam into King Harbor and became disoriented.
Those who chose other basins were fine, but the schools that headed into Basin 1 "backed themselves into a corner" and were unable to find their way out, he said.
They quickly depleted the oxygen in the water and died.
"If they turned right instead of left, they'd be fine," Hughan said. "It's just bad luck."
Brent Scheiwe, director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps' SEA Lab on Harbor Drive, said tests revealed the water contained virtually no oxygen.
"Someone reported it this morning at 7:30. We were astounded when we went down there," he said.
The aquarium received reports that there was a large number of fish in the harbor Monday night, "numbers we had not seen before," Scheiwe said.
He said the spike could have occurred for several reasons - one being rough ocean currents that could have driven the fish to one place.
King Harbor residents said they noticed the increase in fish the night before, swimming among their boats and bouncing off their hulls.
Dayn Schultz, who lives in a houseboat on the marina, said it is typical for fish to spawn in the evening, the action roiling the surface in small patches and giving the water the appearance of boiling.
At about 9:30 Monday night, Schultz jumped on deck after hearing a noisy racket. He discovered the entire marina "boiling" around him.
"It was the most I have ever seen," Schultz said.
When the sun came up, residents found the marina's ocean surface coated with dead fish.
"There were millions and millions of them floating everywhere," said Walter Waite, who lives aboard his boat at the harbor.
Waite said he was struck by the fact that birds weren't feeding. Apparently, they had already gorged.
Onlookers were stunned by the spectacle. Hundreds of people arrived to gawk at the scene.
"It's just incredible," said Gene Wilson, who was vacationing in Redondo Beach from Kansas City. "We've never seen anything like this. I don't know how they're going to remove their carcasses."
In addition to testing the water's oxygen level, biologists also checked to make sure no pollutants, oils or other chemicals could have killed the fish. Hughan said the water was clean, but sea gull droppings washed off the breakwall by the strong waves could have contributed to erasing the water's oxygen level.
Fish and Game authorities collected some of the dead fish and packaged them for express delivery to their laboratory in Rancho Cordova. Necropsies will be performed to determine if any other factors beyond the water's oxygen level contributed to their deaths.
David Caron, a professor of biological sciences at USC, has for the past few years monitored sensors that were placed in the harbor waters following a 2005 red tide that killed thousands of fish.
The plankton that caused that phenomenon - Lingulodinium polyedrum - isn't poisonous, but cast a red-brown tinge over the harbor. The fish died when the blanket of algae starved the water of oxygen.
Caron, whose students took water samples Tuesday, said they found "very little in the water in terms of phytoplankton," leaving him, like others, to believe the low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water caused the massive kill. But he said they plan to examine some of the fish to determine whether they had ingested any toxins.
By midmorning, Redondo Beach officials hatched a plan to begin cleaning up the fish. Public works employees and firefighters on docks, and lifeguards and firefighters in boats began skimming the fish into nets and filling buckets and wheelbarrows.
The labor-intensive work was expected to take hours. One public works employee, sweat dripping from his face, stood on the dock taking a swig of water, as he stared at the carpet of fish in front of him.
He nodded when asked if he was tired.
The fish were taken in large trash containers to a landfill that accepts organic material to be used for fertilizer.
Redondo Beach City Manager Bill Workman estimated the cleanup cost at $100,000, which would come from a tidelands fund that pays for waterfront projects and emergencies.
About 50 city employees worked on the cleanup, assisted by about 100 volunteers. They planned to work into the evening, and return today.
Workman and Mayor Mike Gin said the city had prepared for such an event after the 2005 red tide.
Gin said the harbor was cleaned up through a massive effort by volunteers, marina representatives and city staff.
"Through that ... we were able to form a red-tide response task force to handle situations like this one," Gin said.
larry.altman@dailybreeze.com
Staff writers Kristin S. Agostoni, Eric Bradley and Melissa Evans contributed to this article.
How to help
The city of Redondo Beach is looking for volunteers to help clean up the sardines left floating around King Harbor. Anyone interested is asked to check in at 655 N. Harbor Drive, which is a vacant restaurant site (formerly the Red Onion), just north of the Cheesecake Factory.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_17564875?nclick_check=1
Staff Writer
Posted: 03/08/2011 09:33:32 AM PST
PHOTO GALLERY
Millions of sardines created a massive stink and an even bigger cleanup effort in Redondo Beach's King Harbor Marina on Tuesday after they swam inside overnight, became trapped and died.
Twelve to 18 inches of dead sardines blanketed the water's bottom in Basin 1 off Marina Way. Another thick layer of dead fish coated the surface from the breakwall to the inner docks, surrounding boats and walkways.
Authorities with the California Department of Fish and Game, along with other ocean biologists at the scene, declared the mass death a natural event. The fish, they said, sucked every drop of oxygen from the water and couldn't breathe.
"They are in every slip and every dock," said Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan. "It's a whole lot of fish."
Hughan said authorities believe the huge school of sardines, perhaps blown in by the night's 40-mph winds and crashing waves, swam into King Harbor and became disoriented.
Those who chose other basins were fine, but the schools that headed into Basin 1 "backed themselves into a corner" and were unable to find their way out, he said.
They quickly depleted the oxygen in the water and died.
"If they turned right instead of left, they'd be fine," Hughan said. "It's just bad luck."
Brent Scheiwe, director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps' SEA Lab on Harbor Drive, said tests revealed the water contained virtually no oxygen.
"Someone reported it this morning at 7:30. We were astounded when we went down there," he said.
The aquarium received reports that there was a large number of fish in the harbor Monday night, "numbers we had not seen before," Scheiwe said.
He said the spike could have occurred for several reasons - one being rough ocean currents that could have driven the fish to one place.
King Harbor residents said they noticed the increase in fish the night before, swimming among their boats and bouncing off their hulls.
Dayn Schultz, who lives in a houseboat on the marina, said it is typical for fish to spawn in the evening, the action roiling the surface in small patches and giving the water the appearance of boiling.
At about 9:30 Monday night, Schultz jumped on deck after hearing a noisy racket. He discovered the entire marina "boiling" around him.
"It was the most I have ever seen," Schultz said.
When the sun came up, residents found the marina's ocean surface coated with dead fish.
"There were millions and millions of them floating everywhere," said Walter Waite, who lives aboard his boat at the harbor.
Waite said he was struck by the fact that birds weren't feeding. Apparently, they had already gorged.
Onlookers were stunned by the spectacle. Hundreds of people arrived to gawk at the scene.
"It's just incredible," said Gene Wilson, who was vacationing in Redondo Beach from Kansas City. "We've never seen anything like this. I don't know how they're going to remove their carcasses."
In addition to testing the water's oxygen level, biologists also checked to make sure no pollutants, oils or other chemicals could have killed the fish. Hughan said the water was clean, but sea gull droppings washed off the breakwall by the strong waves could have contributed to erasing the water's oxygen level.
Fish and Game authorities collected some of the dead fish and packaged them for express delivery to their laboratory in Rancho Cordova. Necropsies will be performed to determine if any other factors beyond the water's oxygen level contributed to their deaths.
David Caron, a professor of biological sciences at USC, has for the past few years monitored sensors that were placed in the harbor waters following a 2005 red tide that killed thousands of fish.
The plankton that caused that phenomenon - Lingulodinium polyedrum - isn't poisonous, but cast a red-brown tinge over the harbor. The fish died when the blanket of algae starved the water of oxygen.
Caron, whose students took water samples Tuesday, said they found "very little in the water in terms of phytoplankton," leaving him, like others, to believe the low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water caused the massive kill. But he said they plan to examine some of the fish to determine whether they had ingested any toxins.
By midmorning, Redondo Beach officials hatched a plan to begin cleaning up the fish. Public works employees and firefighters on docks, and lifeguards and firefighters in boats began skimming the fish into nets and filling buckets and wheelbarrows.
The labor-intensive work was expected to take hours. One public works employee, sweat dripping from his face, stood on the dock taking a swig of water, as he stared at the carpet of fish in front of him.
He nodded when asked if he was tired.
The fish were taken in large trash containers to a landfill that accepts organic material to be used for fertilizer.
Redondo Beach City Manager Bill Workman estimated the cleanup cost at $100,000, which would come from a tidelands fund that pays for waterfront projects and emergencies.
About 50 city employees worked on the cleanup, assisted by about 100 volunteers. They planned to work into the evening, and return today.
Workman and Mayor Mike Gin said the city had prepared for such an event after the 2005 red tide.
Gin said the harbor was cleaned up through a massive effort by volunteers, marina representatives and city staff.
"Through that ... we were able to form a red-tide response task force to handle situations like this one," Gin said.
larry.altman@dailybreeze.com
Staff writers Kristin S. Agostoni, Eric Bradley and Melissa Evans contributed to this article.
How to help
The city of Redondo Beach is looking for volunteers to help clean up the sardines left floating around King Harbor. Anyone interested is asked to check in at 655 N. Harbor Drive, which is a vacant restaurant site (formerly the Red Onion), just north of the Cheesecake Factory.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_17564875?nclick_check=1
'One million' dead sardines clog Redondo Beach marina
9 March 2011
US officials fear a public health hazard after an estimated one million sardines that inexplicably washed up in a California marina begin to rot.
The carcasses coated the surface of the King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, near Los Angeles, and piled as high as 18in (46cm) on the marina floor.
Officials said the fish had sought shelter from rough seas and soon exhausted the water's oxygen supply.
They said they would "recycle" the fish carcasses into fertiliser.
"We need to get rid of them," Redondo Beach Police Sgt Phil Keenan was quoted by the local Daily Breeze newspaper as saying.
"This is going to create a terrible pollution and public health issue if we don't."
With the temperature on Tuesday already passing 68F (20C), the dead fish were beginning to smell.
Roughly 1,400 boats are moored at the harbour, including about 500 with full-time residents.
In some places, the dead fish were so thick boats were unable to leave the marina, officials said.
Local officials said they had found no traces of toxins or pollutants, and that they believed the fish had used up all the oxygen in the marina.
"We're confident that it is a naturally occurring, but unusual event," said Andrew Hughan, spokesman for the California fish and wildlife department.
He said it seemed likely that the fish had got lost after entering the marina and had been unable to find their way out. "They get confused easily," he told the Associated Press news agency.
Earlier estimates put the number of dead fish at millions but the state fish and wildlife department later said it believed there were about one million.
Redondo Beach is about 16 miles (26km) south-west of Los Angeles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12682145
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)
US officials fear a public health hazard after an estimated one million sardines that inexplicably washed up in a California marina begin to rot.
The carcasses coated the surface of the King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach, near Los Angeles, and piled as high as 18in (46cm) on the marina floor.
Officials said the fish had sought shelter from rough seas and soon exhausted the water's oxygen supply.
They said they would "recycle" the fish carcasses into fertiliser.
"We need to get rid of them," Redondo Beach Police Sgt Phil Keenan was quoted by the local Daily Breeze newspaper as saying.
"This is going to create a terrible pollution and public health issue if we don't."
With the temperature on Tuesday already passing 68F (20C), the dead fish were beginning to smell.
Roughly 1,400 boats are moored at the harbour, including about 500 with full-time residents.
In some places, the dead fish were so thick boats were unable to leave the marina, officials said.
Local officials said they had found no traces of toxins or pollutants, and that they believed the fish had used up all the oxygen in the marina.
"We're confident that it is a naturally occurring, but unusual event," said Andrew Hughan, spokesman for the California fish and wildlife department.
He said it seemed likely that the fish had got lost after entering the marina and had been unable to find their way out. "They get confused easily," he told the Associated Press news agency.
Earlier estimates put the number of dead fish at millions but the state fish and wildlife department later said it believed there were about one million.
Redondo Beach is about 16 miles (26km) south-west of Los Angeles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12682145
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Peculiar geese deaths baffle wildlife officials
Ailment afflicting birds around Lake Erie
By TOM HENRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Several dozen Canada geese along western Lake Erie's shoreline have recently died or are presumed dead while others have become so sick they cannot hold up their heads, fly, or maintain control of their motor functions.
State wildlife investigators are stumped, awaiting word on tests that a national wildlife laboratory in Wisconsin has been doing on some of the dead birds.
"They will fall out of the sky and have trouble staying upright," said Dave Sherman, a biologist at the Crane Creek Wildlife Research Station the Ohio Department of Natural Resources operates in Ottawa County.
Symptoms began manifesting themselves first with mallards about two or three weeks ago.
"Now, it's mostly geese we're seeing," he said.
The bulk of the problem appears to be in the Oregon area, Mr. Sherman said, in the vicinity of open water near FirstEnergy Corp.'s coal-fired Bay Shore power plant, where birds typically congregate this time of year.
The plant's warm-water discharge often keeps that part of the lake from freezing.
But the problems are not limited to that area.
Mr. Sherman said some of the sick or dead geese have been found as far east as Vermilion, Ohio, which is halfway between Sandusky and Cleveland.
Four were recently found on a thawed part of the Maumee River near downtown Perrysburg.
Cody Klima, Ohio DNR wildlife officer, said he has picked up about two dozen goose carcasses over the past couple of weeks.
He also said he's taken that many sick birds or more to Nature's Nursery in Whitehouse and Back to the Wild in Castalia, Ohio, two facilities that attempt to rehabilitate injured wildlife.
Officials at those facilities have not had much success with this outbreak.
Many of the sick, injured, or dead geese are inaccessible because warming temperatures have made the ice too dangerous to traverse.
"I'm guessing some of them are drowning," Mr. Klima said. "They lose their coordination and flip upside down."
He said he has been getting about a dozen calls a day from area residents reporting new sightings or seeking answers about birds they've seen.
"They're throwing their heads back. They're losing all balance and literally almost all back-somersault and have a seizure," according to Laura Zitzelberger, operations director at Nature's Nursery. At least eight or nine of about a dozen geese that were brought to Nature's Nursery either died or had to be euthanized.
Two ducks and one of the geese that exhibited symptoms appear to have recovered. Another goose is struggling, she said.
At Back to the Wild, 18 of 23 geese dropped off for treatment have died, nearly all within the past three days, said Sarah Langdon, Back to the Wild supervisor.
Of the remaining five, three are "acting like normal geese again" and may be released soon, she said.
Seventeen of those 23 injured birds were brought in from the Bay Shore plant area, she said.
Chris Barry, a Perrysburg engineer, said he has seen three carcasses and a sick goose on the Perrysburg side of the Maumee River since Saturday. He said they were only 20 to 30 feet from the shore, but the ice was too dangerous to walk on.
"They're at the edge of the ice," Mr. Barry said, referring to an area near Water and Pine streets in Perrysburg.
The sick bird "was floating in a tiny patch of open water," Mr. Barry said.
"It didn't have much strength left," he said.
Anyone who sees geese acting strangely can contact the Crane Creek Wildlife Research Station at 419-898-0960 or the ODNR office in Findlay.
http://beta.toledoblade.com/local/2011/02/18/Peculiar-geese-deaths-baffle-wildlife-officials.html
By TOM HENRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Several dozen Canada geese along western Lake Erie's shoreline have recently died or are presumed dead while others have become so sick they cannot hold up their heads, fly, or maintain control of their motor functions.
State wildlife investigators are stumped, awaiting word on tests that a national wildlife laboratory in Wisconsin has been doing on some of the dead birds.
"They will fall out of the sky and have trouble staying upright," said Dave Sherman, a biologist at the Crane Creek Wildlife Research Station the Ohio Department of Natural Resources operates in Ottawa County.
Symptoms began manifesting themselves first with mallards about two or three weeks ago.
"Now, it's mostly geese we're seeing," he said.
The bulk of the problem appears to be in the Oregon area, Mr. Sherman said, in the vicinity of open water near FirstEnergy Corp.'s coal-fired Bay Shore power plant, where birds typically congregate this time of year.
The plant's warm-water discharge often keeps that part of the lake from freezing.
But the problems are not limited to that area.
Mr. Sherman said some of the sick or dead geese have been found as far east as Vermilion, Ohio, which is halfway between Sandusky and Cleveland.
Four were recently found on a thawed part of the Maumee River near downtown Perrysburg.
Cody Klima, Ohio DNR wildlife officer, said he has picked up about two dozen goose carcasses over the past couple of weeks.
He also said he's taken that many sick birds or more to Nature's Nursery in Whitehouse and Back to the Wild in Castalia, Ohio, two facilities that attempt to rehabilitate injured wildlife.
Officials at those facilities have not had much success with this outbreak.
Many of the sick, injured, or dead geese are inaccessible because warming temperatures have made the ice too dangerous to traverse.
"I'm guessing some of them are drowning," Mr. Klima said. "They lose their coordination and flip upside down."
He said he has been getting about a dozen calls a day from area residents reporting new sightings or seeking answers about birds they've seen.
"They're throwing their heads back. They're losing all balance and literally almost all back-somersault and have a seizure," according to Laura Zitzelberger, operations director at Nature's Nursery. At least eight or nine of about a dozen geese that were brought to Nature's Nursery either died or had to be euthanized.
Two ducks and one of the geese that exhibited symptoms appear to have recovered. Another goose is struggling, she said.
At Back to the Wild, 18 of 23 geese dropped off for treatment have died, nearly all within the past three days, said Sarah Langdon, Back to the Wild supervisor.
Of the remaining five, three are "acting like normal geese again" and may be released soon, she said.
Seventeen of those 23 injured birds were brought in from the Bay Shore plant area, she said.
Chris Barry, a Perrysburg engineer, said he has seen three carcasses and a sick goose on the Perrysburg side of the Maumee River since Saturday. He said they were only 20 to 30 feet from the shore, but the ice was too dangerous to walk on.
"They're at the edge of the ice," Mr. Barry said, referring to an area near Water and Pine streets in Perrysburg.
The sick bird "was floating in a tiny patch of open water," Mr. Barry said.
"It didn't have much strength left," he said.
Anyone who sees geese acting strangely can contact the Crane Creek Wildlife Research Station at 419-898-0960 or the ODNR office in Findlay.
http://beta.toledoblade.com/local/2011/02/18/Peculiar-geese-deaths-baffle-wildlife-officials.html
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Newbury horse racing deaths blamed on electrocution
An investigation has been launched after two horses died in the paddock at Newbury amid fears they were electrocuted by underground cabling.
Fenix Two and Marching Song were due to feature in the day's opening race but collapsed. Another horse, Kid Cassidy, was withdrawn after stumbling.
The Merry Giant was affected but took part in the race, finishing last and said to be "badly traumatised".
Seven horses made it to the start but the last six races were abandoned.
Marching Song's trainer Andy Turnell said: "He went straight down. It looks like they've been electrocuted."
Trainer Nicky Henderson was quick to pull out his runner Kid Cassidy, but the novice hurdle race went ahead, more than 20 minutes late, and with three of the original 10 runners missing. It was won by Paul Nicholls' Al Ferof.
Racegoers saw no further racing, and organisers announced later in the day that they would be fully reimbursed. The British Horseracing Authority is investigating as is the Southern Electric Power Distribution and the police.
A racecourse spokeswoman confirmed a cable, thought to be dormant, had been found under the paddock. She added: "We cannot confirm if that definitely was the reason for the incident today."
At 2200 GMT, the BBC's racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght tweeted: "Extensive 'excavations' on paddock at Newbury continuing says course & more to be revealed later."
Horses are far more sensitive to electricity than humans, and wet ground conditions could have contributed to the fatal accident.
Henderson said: "About a minute before it happened, Kid Cassidy was walking in the same corner of the paddock. I had my back turned but my daughter said 'your horse has gone down'.
"He got back up again and he went to the start. All the horses at the start had their hearts checked and he was fine, but he was desperately keen so I decided to take him out.
"Electrocution is the most obvious possibility. Nobody is to blame really, but I think you'd only really find out when they've done a post-mortem.
"The worse thing is what happened to the horses and it's all very odd."
Jonjo O'Neill, trainer of Fenix Two, said: "Kid Cassidy was in front and he took a turn.
"We thought he was bucking and kicking and he went down on his knees then he seemed to be OK.
"Mine reared up and we couldn't get him back, it was like he was stuck to the ground. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Al Ferof's owner Paul Barber was in the paddock and said: "The girl [leading] Turnell's said she felt a tingling as she led them round and then Nicky's horse went down.
"They were getting the shocks off the grass, not off the tarmac. I've never seen anything quite like that ever."
Stipendiary steward Paul Barton said: "We are going to hold an inquiry and interview those connected with the horses."
Asked about rumours that a lead rein on one of the dead horses looked burned, Barton said: "One of the reasons we couldn't continue was because of all the speculation.
"The rein will go away for forensic examination to establish what happened to it."
Representing The Merry Giant's trainer Rebecca Curtis was her partner Gearoid Costello, who said: "He's badly traumatised and the vets are monitoring him. The horse went down on his hind legs in the paddock but went down to the start. I asked to take him out, but the vets said he was OK. However, I regret running him.
"The chain on his lead rein broke, but it wasn't scorched."
Newbury chairman Christopher Spence said: "It's a nightmare for everybody. We can't be certain what it is, we all think it's electric, but we don't know.
"It's easy to say carry on and hope for the best, but just hoping is not something we should or could do. We've got to look after our customers and we've got to look after the horses, so very regrettably we've called the meeting off.
"It's defeated everyone and we don't know the answer. We'll have a meeting to decide if we can re-run any of the races and we'll make further announcements as soon as we possibly can.
"We've looked at the cables and we couldn't see any damage and no work has been carried out on the paddock since the last meeting."
The second race was due to be screened live on Channel 4 but at 1410 GMT a decision was made to call off racing at the 104-year-old course.
Fenix Two was an unraced six-year-old owned by JP McManus, the employer of champion jockey Tony McCoy. Marching Song, a five-year-old, had raced eight times in all and twice over hurdles.
While a number of trainers urged Newbury to re-arrange the abandoned six races with the Cheltenham Festival fast approaching, at Warwick Finian's Rainbow notched an important win.
The 2-5 favourite did not jump with much fluency in the early stages of the Kingmaker Novices' Chase and most bookmakers left the Arkle favourite unchanged at 7-2 in ante-post markets.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/9395743.stm
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Newbury racing cancelled after mystery deaths
Racing has been called off at Newbury in extraordinary circumstances after Fenix Two and Marching Song collapsed and died in the parade ring before the first race.
An inquiry and immediate post-mortem examinations were announced, with the reasons for the deaths unknown amid speculation the horses died from some form of electric shock emanating from underneath the paddock.
Some horses had already made it down to the start and there were reports that others had "wobbled" on entering the paddock.
Nicky Henderson was quick to withdraw his runner Kid Cassidy, while Andy Turnell, trainer of Marching Song, said: "It looks like they've been electrocuted. My fellow seemed perfectly all right and I was about to leg him up but he just went straight down."
Jonjo O'Neill, trainer of Fenix Two, said: "Kid Cassidy was in front and he took a turn.
"We thought he was bucking and kicking and he went down on his knees then he seemed to be OK."
He added: "Mine reared up and we couldn't get him back, it was like he was stuck to the ground. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Denman's owner Paul Barber was in the paddock and said: "The girl of Turnell's said she felt a tingling as she led them round and then Nicky's horse went down.
"They were getting the shocks off the grass, not off the tarmac. I've never seen anything quite like that ever."
Stipendiary steward Paul Barton said: "We are going to hold an inquiry and interview those connected with the horses. We are not going to use the parade ring for the rest of the meeting. The horses will parade in the pre-parade ring and leave from that point.
"The veterinary team are in charge of whatever precautions as far as the other horses are concerned. They have checked all other horses in this race."
http://itn.co.uk/2f3ad34f2fac2fa81373f9196ce25104.html
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Fish die en masse after UFO sighting
Could it be the supernatural, or was it just a coincidence?
Thousands of fish have mysteriously died in a Colombian village, shortly after a UFO sighting, a news report said.
There was a commotion in the otherwise quiet village of El Llanito, in the jurisdiction of Barrancabermeja, due to the abrupt appearance of a UFO (unidentified flying object), according to the local press on Jan. 28 (local time).
Next day, two thousand dead fish rose to the surface of an otherwise ordinary swamp in the vicinity. Some experts explained the phenomenon, by saying that the cold snap had fatally decreased oxygen levels in the swamp. However the locals shuddered, convinced that the death was related to the previous day's UFO sighting.
In fact, a number of the villagers claimed that they had seen evidence of burns on the fishes' scales and fins, creating more terror.
The Colombian environment authority sought to eliminate speculation about the supernatural. Environment Secretary Issac Lopez said that the mass death would be extensively examined in order to determine its scientific cause.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2011/02/129_80775.html
Saturday, January 22, 2011
371 Dead Birds Fall from Sky on LA's Sunset Blvd; Similar to California, Arkansas, Louisiana Bird Drops
Posted by Xeno on January 18, 2011
371 dead birds fell from the sky over Los Angeles, California, and hit the pavement at Sunset and Cahuenga. In the great shadow of the CNN building laid scattered hundreds of pigeons, most of them dead.
This is another incident of dead birds falling from the sky, as has been seen in California, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Sweden, Italy, and other places around the world.If today’s dead bird incident had been a singular event, we could have blamed Los Angeles smog. 371 birds could no longer take the poor air quality and decided to choke and fall.
The bird drop happened just after noon, and word of mouth passed quickly.
… The dead birds in this incident were exclusively pigeons, but for the homelesses, they were food. One man had already cleaned his fowl and was arguing with a hot dog vendor about frying it on his hot dog grill. The homeless held a bloody knife and shook the pigeon in the vendor’s face. The pigeon’s entrails hung at least a foot from the pigeon’s slashed belly. The guts swayed as the homeless man passionately pointed his knife at the hot dog grill.
In front of the CNN building was pandemonium. Someone had wished bad luck on these pigeons, and the evidence was strewn all around. Dead birds in the gutters, on sidewalks, stuck in palm trees that dotted the front of the famous news building. Traffic on Sunset had come to a crawl. Jeering faces peered out of car windows, and multiple cars had been rear-ended.
http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/371-dead-birds-fall-from-sky-on-las-sunset-blvd-similar-to-california-arkansas-louisiana-bird-drops/
371 dead birds fell from the sky over Los Angeles, California, and hit the pavement at Sunset and Cahuenga. In the great shadow of the CNN building laid scattered hundreds of pigeons, most of them dead.
This is another incident of dead birds falling from the sky, as has been seen in California, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Sweden, Italy, and other places around the world.If today’s dead bird incident had been a singular event, we could have blamed Los Angeles smog. 371 birds could no longer take the poor air quality and decided to choke and fall.
The bird drop happened just after noon, and word of mouth passed quickly.
… The dead birds in this incident were exclusively pigeons, but for the homelesses, they were food. One man had already cleaned his fowl and was arguing with a hot dog vendor about frying it on his hot dog grill. The homeless held a bloody knife and shook the pigeon in the vendor’s face. The pigeon’s entrails hung at least a foot from the pigeon’s slashed belly. The guts swayed as the homeless man passionately pointed his knife at the hot dog grill.
In front of the CNN building was pandemonium. Someone had wished bad luck on these pigeons, and the evidence was strewn all around. Dead birds in the gutters, on sidewalks, stuck in palm trees that dotted the front of the famous news building. Traffic on Sunset had come to a crawl. Jeering faces peered out of car windows, and multiple cars had been rear-ended.
http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/371-dead-birds-fall-from-sky-on-las-sunset-blvd-similar-to-california-arkansas-louisiana-bird-drops/
371 Dead Birds Fall from Sky on LA's Sunset Blvd; Similar to California, Arkansas, Louisiana Bird Drops
Posted by Xeno on January 18, 2011
371 dead birds fell from the sky over Los Angeles, California, and hit the pavement at Sunset and Cahuenga. In the great shadow of the CNN building laid scattered hundreds of pigeons, most of them dead.
This is another incident of dead birds falling from the sky, as has been seen in California, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Sweden, Italy, and other places around the world.If today’s dead bird incident had been a singular event, we could have blamed Los Angeles smog. 371 birds could no longer take the poor air quality and decided to choke and fall.
The bird drop happened just after noon, and word of mouth passed quickly.
… The dead birds in this incident were exclusively pigeons, but for the homelesses, they were food. One man had already cleaned his fowl and was arguing with a hot dog vendor about frying it on his hot dog grill. The homeless held a bloody knife and shook the pigeon in the vendor’s face. The pigeon’s entrails hung at least a foot from the pigeon’s slashed belly. The guts swayed as the homeless man passionately pointed his knife at the hot dog grill.
In front of the CNN building was pandemonium. Someone had wished bad luck on these pigeons, and the evidence was strewn all around. Dead birds in the gutters, on sidewalks, stuck in palm trees that dotted the front of the famous news building. Traffic on Sunset had come to a crawl. Jeering faces peered out of car windows, and multiple cars had been rear-ended.
http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/371-dead-birds-fall-from-sky-on-las-sunset-blvd-similar-to-california-arkansas-louisiana-bird-drops/
371 dead birds fell from the sky over Los Angeles, California, and hit the pavement at Sunset and Cahuenga. In the great shadow of the CNN building laid scattered hundreds of pigeons, most of them dead.
This is another incident of dead birds falling from the sky, as has been seen in California, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Sweden, Italy, and other places around the world.If today’s dead bird incident had been a singular event, we could have blamed Los Angeles smog. 371 birds could no longer take the poor air quality and decided to choke and fall.
The bird drop happened just after noon, and word of mouth passed quickly.
… The dead birds in this incident were exclusively pigeons, but for the homelesses, they were food. One man had already cleaned his fowl and was arguing with a hot dog vendor about frying it on his hot dog grill. The homeless held a bloody knife and shook the pigeon in the vendor’s face. The pigeon’s entrails hung at least a foot from the pigeon’s slashed belly. The guts swayed as the homeless man passionately pointed his knife at the hot dog grill.
In front of the CNN building was pandemonium. Someone had wished bad luck on these pigeons, and the evidence was strewn all around. Dead birds in the gutters, on sidewalks, stuck in palm trees that dotted the front of the famous news building. Traffic on Sunset had come to a crawl. Jeering faces peered out of car windows, and multiple cars had been rear-ended.
http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/371-dead-birds-fall-from-sky-on-las-sunset-blvd-similar-to-california-arkansas-louisiana-bird-drops/
Alcohol blamed for bird deaths in Romania
Published: Jan. 14, 2011 at 2:25 PM
BUCHAREST, Romania, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Dozens of dead starlings found in a Romanian city were not victims of avian flu, as first feared, but were the victims of alcohol poisoning, officials said.
Residents found the dead birds on the outskirts of Constanta, BBC News reported this week.
Authorities were notified out of concern they might have died from avian flu.
Romania has had outbreaks of avian flu in the past, including a March 2010 incident that resulted in some birds being culled.
However, local veterinary officials said the starlings died after eating grape pulp left over from wine-making.
Analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they died from alcohol poisoning, the head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority said.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/01/14/Alcohol-blamed-for-bird-deaths-in-Romania/UPI-70401295033103/
BUCHAREST, Romania, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Dozens of dead starlings found in a Romanian city were not victims of avian flu, as first feared, but were the victims of alcohol poisoning, officials said.
Residents found the dead birds on the outskirts of Constanta, BBC News reported this week.
Authorities were notified out of concern they might have died from avian flu.
Romania has had outbreaks of avian flu in the past, including a March 2010 incident that resulted in some birds being culled.
However, local veterinary officials said the starlings died after eating grape pulp left over from wine-making.
Analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they died from alcohol poisoning, the head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority said.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/01/14/Alcohol-blamed-for-bird-deaths-in-Romania/UPI-70401295033103/
Alcohol blamed for bird deaths in Romania
Published: Jan. 14, 2011 at 2:25 PM
BUCHAREST, Romania, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Dozens of dead starlings found in a Romanian city were not victims of avian flu, as first feared, but were the victims of alcohol poisoning, officials said.
Residents found the dead birds on the outskirts of Constanta, BBC News reported this week.
Authorities were notified out of concern they might have died from avian flu.
Romania has had outbreaks of avian flu in the past, including a March 2010 incident that resulted in some birds being culled.
However, local veterinary officials said the starlings died after eating grape pulp left over from wine-making.
Analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they died from alcohol poisoning, the head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority said.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/01/14/Alcohol-blamed-for-bird-deaths-in-Romania/UPI-70401295033103/
BUCHAREST, Romania, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Dozens of dead starlings found in a Romanian city were not victims of avian flu, as first feared, but were the victims of alcohol poisoning, officials said.
Residents found the dead birds on the outskirts of Constanta, BBC News reported this week.
Authorities were notified out of concern they might have died from avian flu.
Romania has had outbreaks of avian flu in the past, including a March 2010 incident that resulted in some birds being culled.
However, local veterinary officials said the starlings died after eating grape pulp left over from wine-making.
Analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they died from alcohol poisoning, the head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority said.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/01/14/Alcohol-blamed-for-bird-deaths-in-Romania/UPI-70401295033103/
Monday, January 17, 2011
Time Running Out For Many Bird Species in Turkey
 |
| The white-headed duck, seen here in a breeding program in England, is among the species of birds at risk in Turkey. Photo: Gidzy / Creative Commons. |
Travel & Nature
Dozens of starlings in the Karacabey district of Turkey's Bursa province were among the victims of a recent spate of mass animal deaths around the world that initially provoked much international alarm. But though scientists have emphasized such incidents are not a sign of broader dangers, plenty of real threats face many of the hundreds of bird species in Turkey.
According to a biology professor at Hacettepe University in the capital city of Ankara, more than half of the 437 bird species that are regularly found in Turkey are at serious risk.
"Ninety-five species will see significant decreases in their numbers, while 101 species face possible extinction," Professor İlhami Kiziroğlu, the head of the university's Environmental Education and Bird Research Center, told the state-run Anatolia news agency recently.
Bird Populations In Turkey Have Decreased By Half
"The other 65 species [out of the 502 identified in Turkey] are seen only at certain times. They do not reproduce in Turkey and they cannot be observed very often. However, of the 437 species, the Oriental darter and bald ibis have already disappeared from the natural habitat in Turkey," Kiziroğlu said, adding that total bird populations in the country have decreased by half over the past two decades.
Both migratory and endemic species that rely on Turkey's wetlands face the most immediate threats, the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported:
The Oriental darter is a species that once nested around Lake Amik in Hatay; however, they have not been observed in the region since the lake dried up in the 1960s. "This species has now disappeared in Turkey. It was seen for the last time in 1963," Kiziroğlu said. He said the last time [wild] bald ibises were observed in Turkey was when three were found in Şanlıurfa's Birecik district in 1988.Dams And Agriculture Pose Big Threat
Inefficient agricultural irrigation and draw-offs for the increasing number of hydroelectric dams in the country are among the factors drying up important wetlands in Turkey.
"One-seventh of the European population of the white-headed duck exists in Turkey, spending winters in Lake Burdur in the Mediterranean region. However, this species is threatened by the level of industrial waste and the decreasing water levels in the lake," Kiziroğlu said, adding that bird populations around the lake are also threatened by flights from the nearby airport in Isparta.
More On Threats To Birds Around The World
Buildings & Pets Kill Far More Birds Each Year than the Flockpocalypse Has
Birds Have 'Blind Spot' for Power Lines, Causing Fatal Collisions
Tar Sands: Harmful to Water, Deadly for Birds
17% of North American Birds Facing Rapid Decline
Climate Change Causing Bizarre Arctic Bird Deaths
9 Human Activities That Threaten Birds and Why We Need to Effect Change Now
Exxon Pleads Guilty to Killing Protected Birds
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/time-running-out-for-many-bird-species-in-turkey.php
Time Running Out For Many Bird Species in Turkey
|
| The white-headed duck, seen here in a breeding program in England, is among the species of birds at risk in Turkey. Photo: Gidzy / Creative Commons. |
Travel & Nature
Dozens of starlings in the Karacabey district of Turkey's Bursa province were among the victims of a recent spate of mass animal deaths around the world that initially provoked much international alarm. But though scientists have emphasized such incidents are not a sign of broader dangers, plenty of real threats face many of the hundreds of bird species in Turkey.
According to a biology professor at Hacettepe University in the capital city of Ankara, more than half of the 437 bird species that are regularly found in Turkey are at serious risk.
"Ninety-five species will see significant decreases in their numbers, while 101 species face possible extinction," Professor İlhami Kiziroğlu, the head of the university's Environmental Education and Bird Research Center, told the state-run Anatolia news agency recently.
Bird Populations In Turkey Have Decreased By Half
"The other 65 species [out of the 502 identified in Turkey] are seen only at certain times. They do not reproduce in Turkey and they cannot be observed very often. However, of the 437 species, the Oriental darter and bald ibis have already disappeared from the natural habitat in Turkey," Kiziroğlu said, adding that total bird populations in the country have decreased by half over the past two decades.
Both migratory and endemic species that rely on Turkey's wetlands face the most immediate threats, the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported:
The Oriental darter is a species that once nested around Lake Amik in Hatay; however, they have not been observed in the region since the lake dried up in the 1960s. "This species has now disappeared in Turkey. It was seen for the last time in 1963," Kiziroğlu said. He said the last time [wild] bald ibises were observed in Turkey was when three were found in Şanlıurfa's Birecik district in 1988.Dams And Agriculture Pose Big Threat
Inefficient agricultural irrigation and draw-offs for the increasing number of hydroelectric dams in the country are among the factors drying up important wetlands in Turkey.
"One-seventh of the European population of the white-headed duck exists in Turkey, spending winters in Lake Burdur in the Mediterranean region. However, this species is threatened by the level of industrial waste and the decreasing water levels in the lake," Kiziroğlu said, adding that bird populations around the lake are also threatened by flights from the nearby airport in Isparta.
More On Threats To Birds Around The World
Buildings & Pets Kill Far More Birds Each Year than the Flockpocalypse Has
Birds Have 'Blind Spot' for Power Lines, Causing Fatal Collisions
Tar Sands: Harmful to Water, Deadly for Birds
17% of North American Birds Facing Rapid Decline
Climate Change Causing Bizarre Arctic Bird Deaths
9 Human Activities That Threaten Birds and Why We Need to Effect Change Now
Exxon Pleads Guilty to Killing Protected Birds
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/time-running-out-for-many-bird-species-in-turkey.php
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Alcohol poisoning, not avian flu, killed Romanian birds
12 January 2011
Birds that were thought to have died from avian flu in Romania instead apparently drank themselves to death.
Residents of Constanta in eastern Romania found dozens of dead starlings on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.
They alerted authorities, fearing the birds had died from avian flu.
But local veterinary officials decided the starlings had died after eating grape 'marc' - the leftovers from the wine-making process.
The head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority, Dvsva, told news agency Agerpres that analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they had died from alcohol poisoning.
There have been a number of unexplained mass bird deaths recently in several countries, including the United States and Sweden.
Fireworks were blamed for the deaths of thousands of red-winged blackbirds in Arkansas, while in Sweden officials believe almost 100 jackdaws found dead in the centre of a town had simply been run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571
Birds that were thought to have died from avian flu in Romania instead apparently drank themselves to death.
Residents of Constanta in eastern Romania found dozens of dead starlings on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.
They alerted authorities, fearing the birds had died from avian flu.
But local veterinary officials decided the starlings had died after eating grape 'marc' - the leftovers from the wine-making process.
The head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority, Dvsva, told news agency Agerpres that analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they had died from alcohol poisoning.
There have been a number of unexplained mass bird deaths recently in several countries, including the United States and Sweden.
Fireworks were blamed for the deaths of thousands of red-winged blackbirds in Arkansas, while in Sweden officials believe almost 100 jackdaws found dead in the centre of a town had simply been run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571
Alcohol poisoning, not avian flu, killed Romanian birds
12 January 2011
Birds that were thought to have died from avian flu in Romania instead apparently drank themselves to death.
Residents of Constanta in eastern Romania found dozens of dead starlings on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.
They alerted authorities, fearing the birds had died from avian flu.
But local veterinary officials decided the starlings had died after eating grape 'marc' - the leftovers from the wine-making process.
The head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority, Dvsva, told news agency Agerpres that analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they had died from alcohol poisoning.
There have been a number of unexplained mass bird deaths recently in several countries, including the United States and Sweden.
Fireworks were blamed for the deaths of thousands of red-winged blackbirds in Arkansas, while in Sweden officials believe almost 100 jackdaws found dead in the centre of a town had simply been run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571
Birds that were thought to have died from avian flu in Romania instead apparently drank themselves to death.
Residents of Constanta in eastern Romania found dozens of dead starlings on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.
They alerted authorities, fearing the birds had died from avian flu.
But local veterinary officials decided the starlings had died after eating grape 'marc' - the leftovers from the wine-making process.
The head of the local sanitary and veterinary authority, Dvsva, told news agency Agerpres that analysis of the starlings' gizzards showed they had died from alcohol poisoning.
There have been a number of unexplained mass bird deaths recently in several countries, including the United States and Sweden.
Fireworks were blamed for the deaths of thousands of red-winged blackbirds in Arkansas, while in Sweden officials believe almost 100 jackdaws found dead in the centre of a town had simply been run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Swedish bird mystery: Deaths due to 'external injuries'
6 January 2011
Officials investigating the mysterious deaths of up to 100 birds on a road in Sweden say tests have revealed they suffered external injuries.
Dozens of jackdaws were found in the centre of Falkoeping prompting comparisons with the mysterious deaths of 3,000 birds in the US.
Sweden's National Veterinary Institute said it had tested five of the birds and found evidence of traumatic injury.
But it could not explain why the birds were on the street.
Professor Marianne Elvander, the institute's head of disease control and epidemiology, told the BBC News website that they appeared to have been hit by some kind of blunt instrument.
"My best guess is that this was the secondary effect, that they could have hit the ground very fast after being hit by a car or truck," she said.
Swedish media have described how Falkoeping resident Drilon Hulaj came across "hundreds of dead birds" lying in the street while driving home on Tuesday night.
Mr Hulaj said he had been immediately reminded of the events in Arkansas where 3,000 red-winged blackbirds died mysteriously on New Year's Eve in the town of Beebe. Scientists there believe the blackbirds may have been affected by fireworks.
There have been no reports of fireworks or storms in Falkoeping on Tuesday night and fireworks has been ruled by vet officers, who say there is no sign of internal haemorrhaging.
But Swedish newspapers have suggested that the birds had been pecking at salt on the road when they were run over by a passing lorry.
Rescue chief Christer Olofsson told Aftonbladet that a lorry driver had called him to explain that he had hit a lot of the birds but had not considered it significant until he discovered the story had attracted international media attention.
While the lorry may go some way to solving the Swedish mystery, vet officers have pointed out that many of the birds were not run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12130940
Officials investigating the mysterious deaths of up to 100 birds on a road in Sweden say tests have revealed they suffered external injuries.
Dozens of jackdaws were found in the centre of Falkoeping prompting comparisons with the mysterious deaths of 3,000 birds in the US.
Sweden's National Veterinary Institute said it had tested five of the birds and found evidence of traumatic injury.
But it could not explain why the birds were on the street.
Professor Marianne Elvander, the institute's head of disease control and epidemiology, told the BBC News website that they appeared to have been hit by some kind of blunt instrument.
"My best guess is that this was the secondary effect, that they could have hit the ground very fast after being hit by a car or truck," she said.
Swedish media have described how Falkoeping resident Drilon Hulaj came across "hundreds of dead birds" lying in the street while driving home on Tuesday night.
Mr Hulaj said he had been immediately reminded of the events in Arkansas where 3,000 red-winged blackbirds died mysteriously on New Year's Eve in the town of Beebe. Scientists there believe the blackbirds may have been affected by fireworks.
There have been no reports of fireworks or storms in Falkoeping on Tuesday night and fireworks has been ruled by vet officers, who say there is no sign of internal haemorrhaging.
But Swedish newspapers have suggested that the birds had been pecking at salt on the road when they were run over by a passing lorry.
Rescue chief Christer Olofsson told Aftonbladet that a lorry driver had called him to explain that he had hit a lot of the birds but had not considered it significant until he discovered the story had attracted international media attention.
While the lorry may go some way to solving the Swedish mystery, vet officers have pointed out that many of the birds were not run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12130940
Swedish bird mystery: Deaths due to 'external injuries'
6 January 2011
Officials investigating the mysterious deaths of up to 100 birds on a road in Sweden say tests have revealed they suffered external injuries.
Dozens of jackdaws were found in the centre of Falkoeping prompting comparisons with the mysterious deaths of 3,000 birds in the US.
Sweden's National Veterinary Institute said it had tested five of the birds and found evidence of traumatic injury.
But it could not explain why the birds were on the street.
Professor Marianne Elvander, the institute's head of disease control and epidemiology, told the BBC News website that they appeared to have been hit by some kind of blunt instrument.
"My best guess is that this was the secondary effect, that they could have hit the ground very fast after being hit by a car or truck," she said.
Swedish media have described how Falkoeping resident Drilon Hulaj came across "hundreds of dead birds" lying in the street while driving home on Tuesday night.
Mr Hulaj said he had been immediately reminded of the events in Arkansas where 3,000 red-winged blackbirds died mysteriously on New Year's Eve in the town of Beebe. Scientists there believe the blackbirds may have been affected by fireworks.
There have been no reports of fireworks or storms in Falkoeping on Tuesday night and fireworks has been ruled by vet officers, who say there is no sign of internal haemorrhaging.
But Swedish newspapers have suggested that the birds had been pecking at salt on the road when they were run over by a passing lorry.
Rescue chief Christer Olofsson told Aftonbladet that a lorry driver had called him to explain that he had hit a lot of the birds but had not considered it significant until he discovered the story had attracted international media attention.
While the lorry may go some way to solving the Swedish mystery, vet officers have pointed out that many of the birds were not run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12130940
Officials investigating the mysterious deaths of up to 100 birds on a road in Sweden say tests have revealed they suffered external injuries.
Dozens of jackdaws were found in the centre of Falkoeping prompting comparisons with the mysterious deaths of 3,000 birds in the US.
Sweden's National Veterinary Institute said it had tested five of the birds and found evidence of traumatic injury.
But it could not explain why the birds were on the street.
Professor Marianne Elvander, the institute's head of disease control and epidemiology, told the BBC News website that they appeared to have been hit by some kind of blunt instrument.
"My best guess is that this was the secondary effect, that they could have hit the ground very fast after being hit by a car or truck," she said.
Swedish media have described how Falkoeping resident Drilon Hulaj came across "hundreds of dead birds" lying in the street while driving home on Tuesday night.
Mr Hulaj said he had been immediately reminded of the events in Arkansas where 3,000 red-winged blackbirds died mysteriously on New Year's Eve in the town of Beebe. Scientists there believe the blackbirds may have been affected by fireworks.
There have been no reports of fireworks or storms in Falkoeping on Tuesday night and fireworks has been ruled by vet officers, who say there is no sign of internal haemorrhaging.
But Swedish newspapers have suggested that the birds had been pecking at salt on the road when they were run over by a passing lorry.
Rescue chief Christer Olofsson told Aftonbladet that a lorry driver had called him to explain that he had hit a lot of the birds but had not considered it significant until he discovered the story had attracted international media attention.
While the lorry may go some way to solving the Swedish mystery, vet officers have pointed out that many of the birds were not run over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12130940
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