Animals
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US: More bald eagles dying on Michigan roads


Chicago Tribune
Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:05 UTC
Lansing - State and federal officials are cautioning motorists to be more aware of the presence of bald eagles on Michigan roadways.

The number of eagles killed by cars is on the rise over the past six years in the state, according to a joint news release from the Michigan wildlife officials and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In addition to catching and eating fish, eagles commonly feed on dead animals, meaning they're often around road corridors where they scavenge on large road-kill such as deer, coyote, fox or raccoon.

"The bald eagle tells one of our nation's most revered conservation success stories, and although this species has recovered to sustainable levels, we must keep in mind that as numbers rise, so does the risk for mortality due to human interactions," said Jack Dingledine, an official with the Fish and Wildlife Service's East Lansing field office.
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Black Cat

US: Yankton Sees Bird Kill-Off

Nathan Johnson
Yankton Press
Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:36 UTC
dead birds
More than 200 starlings were found dead in downtown Yankton Monday. Officials attribute the cause of the deaths to the fact that the birds had not migrated from the area. (Courtesy photo)

It is estimated that more than 200 dead starlings were found in downtown Yankton Monday. However, it is not believed the deaths pose a threat to humans.

Yankton Animal Control Officer Lisa Brasel estimated that she collected 200 starlings Monday, and employees of the city Parks and Recreation Department were also on the scene picking up deceased birds. The total number of corpses gathered up by city employees has not yet been compiled.

"I talked to one of the local vets, and they said there is nothing wrong (with the birds)," said Brasel, who took specimens to a veterinary office. "They just didn't migrate and are dying. I was going to call the South Dakota Department of Health to see what they have to say about it, but they are closed today (because of Martin Luther King Day)."
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Black Cat

Birdless bird sanctuary in North Holland


The Big Wobble
Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:19 UTC
I took this amazing video a couple of days ago, this is a bird sanctuary in North Holland but look closely, this area should be teeming with birds but its deserted!

I drive past this sanctuary frequently and it is always full of birds, where did they go?

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Question

Romania: A Second Wave of Dead Birds


TaskForceTV
Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:15 UTC
dead dove
Hundreds of birds died in Romania, for the second time in a month

Hundreds of dead or agonizing crows have brought terror to a town in the Eastern part of Romania. Since Saturday, the locals of Roman, a town of 80.000 people, have noticed that hundreds of crows fell to the ground dead or in agony in one of the local parks. On Monday, dozens of birds were struggling with death, unable to fly. Local experts suspect that the crows may have been poisoned, but no verdict can be given before a forensic study is conducted.

Some three dozens starlings have also been found dead in Constanţa, by the Black Sea, in Romania, on January the 8th. Veterinarians concluded that the starlings died of cold and alcohol intoxication.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Pelicans turn up sick, dead off Jacksonville coast

Justin Sacharoff
Jacksonville.com
Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:01 UTC
pelican
© Will Dickey/The Times-UnionA sick pelican dries out inside an enclosure at BEAKS on Big Talbot Island, one of hundreds around Mayport in need of treatment.
Hundreds of Eastern brown pelicans, some with missing wings and frostbite, have been injured or killed in the St. Johns River the past couple of weeks in the Mayport area.

The exact reason is unknown but the cold weather could have caused hypothermia when the birds landed in the water. The pelicans have been losing a protective coating they have on their body to shield their feathers from becoming saturated by water.

Cindy Mosling, co-founder of the Bird Emergency Aid and Kare Sanctuary on Big Talbot Island, thinks chemicals in the water could be the culprit.
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X

Canada: Mysterious infection is killing British Columbia salmon


Exchange Magazine
Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:46 UTC
Carleton Professor Part of Team Investigating Mysterious Fish Infection

Ottawa - The Globe and Mail published the following story. Carleton Professor Steven Cooke was one of the 15 scientists involved in this research. He developed the biopsy technique that enabled the collection of non-lethal tissue samples from fish. His lab was involved with fish tagging and tissue collection in the wild.

Mysterious infection is killing B.C. salmon

By Mark Hume

Large numbers of sockeye salmon are dying in the Fraser River, before spawning, because of a mysterious virus, new research suggests.

Historical records show that some fish always die en route to their spawning beds, but since the early 1990s the problem has become increasingly acute - with more than two million fish dying in some years. Researchers have long puzzled over what was causing the seemingly healthy fish to suddenly stop swimming and turn belly up.

A large team of researchers from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and three Canadian universities has now found most of the fish that die before spawning have a common "genomic signature" - or a pattern that shows changes have taken place in an array of genes activated to fight infection.

"Our hypothesis is that the genomic signal associated with elevated mortality is in response to a virus infecting fish before river entry and that persists to the spawning areas," says the report published in the journal Science on Thursday.
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Question

New Zealand: Mourning Dolphin Carries Dead Calf Around Harbour

Kristin Edge
New Zealand Herald
Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:00 UTC
Dead Dolphin Calf
© Orca Research TrustAn adult female dolphin with a dead calf in the Whangarei Harbour.

A female dolphin carrying a dead calf has been spotted swimming in Whangarei Harbour.

Northland orca researcher and whale expert Ingrid Visser was on the water last Thursday and managed to take photos of the female dolphin, known as Potato, with the dead calf.

"The dead baby was very decomposed, most bones gone, blubber floating at the surface when she stopped carrying it, for moments only. She was carrying it on her dorsal fin, across her pectoral fins and across her tail flukes," Dr Visser said.

The dolphin managed to travel up to 8 knots and went to the bow of Dr Visser's boat at one stage.

"There is concern for her in terms of the decomposition of the carcass - having it near her eyes, mouth and blowhole when it is full of bacteria is not a good option."

Dr Visser said they could only get close during the two hours they tracked the dolphin.
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Radar

Hundreds of dead seals in Labrador


Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:08 UTC
Image
© unk
People on the north coast of Labrador say scores of dead seals have been washing ashore since early December.

A conservation officer with the area's Inuit government estimated late last week that hundreds of adult and young seals have died in the area between Hopedale and Makkovik this winter.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is testing the carcasses, but Nunatsiavut conservation officer Ian Winters said many people in the area believe DFO hasn't acted quickly enough.
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Fish

Dead Fish Start Washing Up in Australia


The Big Wobble
Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:02 UTC
Image

Investigations are underway into the cause of a fish kill in Jervis Bay. About 70 different species have been washed up on the shore line around Honeymoon Bay and Bindijine. Among the kill were groper, flathead, stingrays and sea horses. Samples of the dead fish have been taken away for testing. The incident has experts mystified, because many fish kills often effect only a few species, while on this occasion the deaths are across the board.

Source

A sleepy little coast bay town of Jervis Bay was rocked by lots of dead and dying fish washing up on shore.

I was driving down the coast and heard this interview on a little radio station where the guy had phoned in and tell the radio station about what he was looking at, literally hundreds of dead and dying fish, some still moving seemingly trying to get out of the water, the witness on the radio saying it's almost like they were trying to escape something or trying to get out of the water for oxygen.
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Bizarro Earth

Iran: Mass Fish Death Recorded in Caspian Sea

Azerbaijan, Baku
Trend
Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:02 UTC
dead fish
© na

Mass fish death was recorded in the Iranian sector of the Caspian Sea," Iranian Gulistan Province's Nature Conservation Department Deputy Head Mohsen Jafarnejad said.

Mass death of fish in the Caspian Sea is recorded on the west coast of the Gulistan Province. A large number of dead mullet have washed ashore, Shomalnews.com reported.

"An analysis of samples taken from dead fish was carried out, and now we are waiting for their results," Jafarnejad said.
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