A seagull found sick at Huntington State Beach on Thursday, Oct. 10, recovers at the Wetlands and Wildlife Center. The gull was one of 12 found at the beach
© Lisa PeronneA seagull found sick at Huntington State Beach on Thursday, Oct. 10, recovers at the Wetlands and Wildlife Center. The gull was one of 12 found at the beach
A flock of 12 seagulls was found sick or dead at Huntington State Beach, possibly caused by toxins, according to the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center.

A handful of wildlife experts and volunteers responded to a call from a woman walking on the beach, who first saw the numerous dead and dying gulls at around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, said Lisa Peronne, wildlife manager at the Huntington Beach-based rehabilitation nonprofit.

When Peronne and her team arrived, she said they found 12 beached Western Gulls on the high tide line mixed up with seaweed. Upon inspecting the birds, eight were dead and the other four were clinging to life, she said.

"When we found them," Peronne said, "we had to pick up each bird to see if they were dead or alive"



Whatever caused the gulls to get sick, Peronne said, it must have paralyzed them because sand was packed near their eyes and other areas of the body, she added.

"They definitely got tumbled, without being able to move," Peronne said. "They were tumbled in the waves numerous times for those types of things to occur."

The Care Center took the birds and immediately treated the four surviving ones.

One died the same day, but the other three appear to be doing much better, Peronne said.

"They're regaining their strength and started standing yesterday," she said Sunday afternoon. "They're taking very rapid steps toward recovering so we're happy about that."

The Care Center team saw two other gulls that appeared to be in the same flock, but they were unable to catch them, Peronne said. The fear is that they will end up beached like the others.

It's still unclear what caused the birds to get so sick and whether the possible poisoning of the gulls was intentional or not.

The bodies of some of the dead gulls were sent to labs, where they will be tested, Peronne said. But the results could come back anytime from weeks to months, she added.

Peronne said that incidents with a mass casualty of birds happen roughly once a year.

"This can happen almost anywhere if the conditions are correct," she said.

But 12 is an unusually high number, Peronne added.

The Care Center asked that if anyone happens to see a sick gull, or any other bird at the beach, to call them at 714-374-5587.