© Jason Kryk / The Windsor Star
Thousands of dead fish and dozens of dead ducks float in Little River near Riverside Drive East in Windsor, Ont., on Feb. 16, 2011.
Windsor, Ontario -- There's an increasingly smelly fish-and-duck soup at the mouth of Little River as thousands of dead shad and several dozen dead ducks blanket the water's surface, causing some alarm among residents.
"It seems a little strange," said Mike Stoyshin, who noticed the mass of dead gizzard shad in the river while going for a walk Tuesday evening.
When he got a little closer, he realized there were several dead mallard and merganser ducks floating among the fish.
"I know that everybody says the shad die off every year but a dozen ducks dead in the same pile is kind of concerning," said Stoyshin.
Ministry of Natural Resources biologist Andy Cook dispatched a team from the Wheatley MNR office after being notified of the dead waterfowl by
The Star Wednesday morning.
Seven mallards, one merganser and two Canada geese carcasses were retrieved and will be sent to the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre in Guelph for analysis.
While Cook avoided prejudging the test results, he said the fish and waterfowl likely died for the same reason: the harsh winter temperatures this year.
