Mysterious Elk Deaths Plague New Mexico

By Benjamin Radford, LiveScience's Bad Science Columnist | September 10, 2013 

Officials with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish are puzzling over the mysterious deaths of more than 100 elk, apparently all within a 24-hour period, in rural New Mexico.

The elk were found Aug. 27 on a 75,000-acre ranch north of the city of Las Vegas.

Livestock deaths, by themselves, are not unusual — there are many things that can fell large animals, including predators, poachers, a natural or man-made toxin, disease, drought, heat, starvation, and even lightning. 

Read further

Mysterious Manatee and Dolphin Deaths in Florida Confound Scientists

Once a lush and healthy estuary, the Indian River Lagoon is now an enigmatic death trap. Running along 40 percent of Florida’s Atlantic coast, the lagoon’s brackish waters harbor a mysterious killer that has claimed the lives of hundreds of manatees, pelicans, and dolphins. Nobody knows why. In April, NOAA declared the spate of manatee deaths an Unusual Mortality Event, a designation granted when marine mammal deaths or strandings are significantly higher than normal, demand immediate attention, and are the result of a common but unknown cause. Soon, the bottlenose dolphin die-off may be given the same designation. “We have to hope we can find the answer, because until we do, we don’t know how we can help prevent it in the future,” said Jan Landsberg, a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Since last July, 51 dolphins, 111 manatees, and as many as 300 pelicans have perished in the lagoon. The deaths don’t follow an obvious pattern: Manatees are dying so quickly that some still have food in their mouths, while the dolphins and pelicans appear to be starving to death.

Continued

Mystery mass deaths of green turtles in Australia – via Herp Digest

Phys.Org, 6/29/12

Scientists were at a loss Friday to explain the mysterious deaths of more than 70 green turtles that have washed up on beaches in northeast Australia over the last week.

Queensland state authorities said 62 of the vulnerable species were confirmed dead and another 10 were spotted floating at sea by a helicopter.

Marty McLaughlin, operations manager at Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services, said the turtles were nourished and had no obvious signs of illness.

"There is no obvious cause of death. We've tested for all the normal reasons, like boat strikes and starvation, but that has not occurred," he told AFP.

"It is species-specific to green turtles and we can't see any signs of toxicity or chemicals, and our analysis to date has shown no parasites. It's a complete mystery."

All of the turtles were found around Upstart Bay, south of Townsville, in the past week.

McLaughlin said crabs and pigs feeding on the carcasses did not appear affected by whatever killed the turtles, which are considered vulnerable under national

U.S. government joins probe of mysterious seal deaths

(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

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

Massive Fish Kill Cedar B.C. Vancouver Island Canada

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)

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

'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)

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

Newbury horse racing deaths blamed on electrocution

22:04 GMT, Saturday, 12 February 2011

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

Newbury racing cancelled after mystery deaths

Sat Feb 12 2011 14:15:53

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

Fish die en masse after UFO sighting

02-01-2011 20:25

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

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/

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/

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.

by Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey on 01.16.11
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

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

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

More than 1,000 turtle doves fall from the sky in Italy in latest mass bird death case

After cavalcades of dead birds and fish from Arkansas and Texas to Sweden and New Zealand, tests are being carried out on the bodies of turtle doves in Italy after hundreds rained down near Ravenna.

By Nick Pisa, Rome 7:27PM GMT 07 Jan 2011

For the last five days wildlife experts and officers from the forestry commission have picked up more than 1,000 turtle doves as well as other birds including pigeons.

Yesterday alone 300 corpses were recovered with all of them having a blue tinge to their beaks, which scientists say indicates poisoning or hypoxia which is lack of oxygen that can confuse animals.

The incident in the town of Faenza in northern Italy comes after a series of similar cases across the world in the United States and Sweden.

It is not just birds that have been affected, with millions of dead fish also washing up on river banks and coastlines.

The turtle dove case is the largest incident to have hit Europe so far – in Sweden 50 jackdaws were found dead. Italian officials said they expected results from the tests on Monday.

Most of the birds have been found around an industrial estate on the outskirts of Faenza but others have also been found closer to the centre in trees and on roads and pavements.

One local newspaper covering the incident wrote: "Let's hope it is poisoning or an illness because that would be easier to deal with than it being a sign the world is coming to an end."

Massimo Bolognesi, of the local World Wildlife Federation, said: "We first started getting reports on Sunday and since then they have been coming in every day.

"We have collected more than 1,000 turtle doves corpses but there is also the odd pigeon as well and all of them have this blue tint to their beak which could indicate poisoning or hypoxia.

"Tests are being carried out on the bodies by the local forestry commission and we should get the results next week but it's the numbers that make this such a notable event and for the moment it is a mystery."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8246678/More-than-1000-turtle-doves-fall-from-the-sky-in-Italy-in-latest-mass-bird-death-case.html

It's the Aflockalypse: More mass animal deaths see thousands of fish found floating in Florida and 200 birds dead on Texas bridge

By Wil Longbottom
Last updated at 1:54 PM on 6th January 2011

• Thousands of fish found floating in Florida after cold snap
• 200 birds found dead on highway bridge in Texas
• 50 dead jackdaws found on city street in Sweden
• 100 tons of sardines, croaker and catfish wash up dead on Brazilian coast
• Hundreds of fish dead in New Zealand
• And in Britain, 40,000 devil crabs join list of casualties

More and more animals are being found dead as the mysterious spate of mass bird and fish deaths has turned into a global phenomenon.

The latest two separate incidents saw thousands of fish found floating in a creek in Florida and 200 birds found dead on a highway bridge in Texas.

Experts were yesterday carrying out tests on around 50 jackdaws found dead in a street in Falkoping, Sweden, that appear to have suffered the same fate as thousands of their cousins who fell from the sky in separate incidents in the U.S.

Swedish experts have said the shock of fireworks being let off near the city, in the south-east of the country, and difficulty finding food may have led to the deaths of the jackdaws.

Many of the birds are believed to have died from stress or as a result of being run over by vehicles while disoriented.

And scientists have also been left baffled by at least 100 tons of sardines, croaker and catfish washing up dead along the Brazil coastline near Paranaguá.

There were more fish deaths reported today in New Zealand, while in England, the carcasses of 40,000 devil crabs are strewn across a beach in Kent.

Hundreds of dead starlings and robins were found scattered in backyards in the Kentucky town of Gilbertsville while an estimated two million dead fish have washed ashore in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.

They are the latest in a spate of incidents which are being blamed on New Year fireworks, thunderstorms, cold weather, parasites and even poisoning.

The internet has been abuzz with conspiracy theories about secret government experiments being behind the deaths, or it being a sign of a looming Armageddon at the end of the Mayan calendar next year.

The mass deaths include:

• 450 red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, grackles and starlings found littering a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• 3,000 blackbirds on roofs and roads in the small town of Beebe, Arkansas
• Thousands of 'devil crabs' washed up along the Kent coast near Thanet
• Thousands of drum fish washed along a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River
• Tens of thousands of small fish in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
• Thousands of dead fish found floating in warm Florida creek
• Hundreds of snapper fish found dead in New Zealand
• Scores of American Coots found dead on Texas highway bridge

Tests are being carried out on the dead animals, but results are not expected for several weeks.

Thousands of Brazilian fishermen are struggling to make ends meet after the sale of seafood was temporarily suspended when masses of fish were discovered dead in Paranaguá, Antonina and Guaraqueçaba Pontal do Paraná.

Experts have speculated that cold weather or chemical leaks could be behind the deaths.

Edmir Manoel Ferreira, president of the Federation of Fishermen's Colony of Parana, said the deaths had been discovered since Thursday last week.

'On Thursday we began to find a lot of dead fish. One community had to bury 15 tons alone.

'We are experiencing a very sad situation on the coast.'

Samples of the dead fish have been sent to the Centre for Marine Studies at the Universidade Federal do Parana.

One of the latest incidents saw thousands of fish found rotting and floating in Spruce Creek, Florida, after a period of cold weather.

Mullet, ladyfish and catfish have been washing up as winds cause the carcasses to gather on bends along the creek.

And 200 birds were found dead on a highway bridge crossing Lake O' the Pines in Big Cypress Creek, Texas.

Experts believed the birds had been hit by passing vehicles while walking or apparently trying to roost on the bridge.

The cold weather in Britain has also been blamed for the deaths of 40,000 Velvet swimming crabs - also known as 'devil' crabs - found littering beaches in Thanet.

Last year, the Environment Agency set up an inquiry into unexplained numbers of deaths amid fears a mystery virus could be to blame.

But it concluded the crab deaths were linked to the cold weather.

Tony Childs, Thanet Coast Project Manager, said: 'We had a crash in numbers last year and we hadn't expected such a large population.

'As happens with the circle of life in nature, we expect the crabs to be naturally dispersed from our shores very quickly by our local seagulls.

'We are hopeful the crab population will soon recover.'

Scientists blamed fireworks for confusing blackbirds in Beebe, Arkansas, with then crashed into homes, cars and each other as people celebrated the New Year.

Another 450 birds were also found dead along a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They are believed to have hit power lines after becoming disoriented.

Fifty of the creatures were found near a power line 30ft from Louisiana Highway 1. A second group was discovered stretched from the power line across the highway just a quarter of a mile away.

Dan Cristol, a biology professor and co-founder of the Institute for Integrative Bird Behavior Studies, said the Louisiana birds may have been ill or startled from their roost before hitting the power line.

'They don't hit a power line for no reason,' he said.

New Year's revellers spent the holiday weekend cleaning up dead red-winged blackbirds in Beebe. Some blamed the bad weather, while others said one confused bird could have led the group into a fatal plunge.

Experts in Beebe said fireworks may have caused frightened birds to fly lower than normal, where they crashed into homes and other objects.

Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said: 'The blackbirds were flying at rooftop level instead of treetop level.

'Blackbirds have poor eyesight and they started colliding with things.'

Wildlife officials in both Arkansas and Louisiana have sent the carcasses to researchers at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and the University of Georgia.

In 1999, several thousand grackle birds fell from the sky and staggered around before dying in north Louisiana.

It took five months to get the diagnosis - an E. coli infection of the air sacs in their skulls.

It comes after 100,000 drum fish were discovered in the Arkansas River, just 100 miles from Beebe.

Officials said the deaths were not related to the birds, and they had likely been affected by illness as it was one species.

They blame the deaths - affecting menhaden, spots and croakers - on the stress of cold water.

Tens of thousands of small fish have also been discovered dead in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.

Another explanation was that violent thunderstorms may have disoriented the flock.

Red-winged blackbirds are among North America's most abundant birds, with somewhere between 100million and 200million nationwide, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York.

A few grackles and a couple of starlings were also among the dead. Those species roost with blackbirds, particularly in winter.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344345/Animal-death-mystery-Jackdaws-Sweden-fish-Brazil-New-Zealand-crabs-England.html