donmarcyp
Surf Scooter on the beach in La Push
Yesterday my husband and I drove out to the beach at La Push. There were hundreds of these cute little ducks in the surf and on the beach. We had never seen them there before. I took a few pictures and then discovered there were a number of dead ones laying on the beach.
This morning, I picked up the local paper and found this headline:
100-plus seabirds found dead on 25-mile stretch of West End beach
LAPUSH -- More than 100 dead seabirds have been found on beaches stretching about 25 miles from Kalaloch to Rialto Beach since Friday.
Hundreds more of the birds -- which appear to be primarily white-winged scoters and surf scoters -- appear to be ill, said Mary Sue Brancato, a resource protection officer with Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Brancato said it hasn't yet been determined what caused the birds' deaths or illnesses.
"Often when the birds are in a vulnerable state -- say if they are molting or migrating or malnourished -- and then there is an off-coast storm, we might see something like this," Brancato said.
"They do appear to be molting and in the very beginning stages of migrating south from Alaska and the theory of the storm does hold up.
"However, the thing that is a little different about this situation is that typically we would expect to see several different species, whereas this is just a couple of them that seem to be impacted."
In addition to the large number of dead birds, the ones that are alive on the beach seem to be ill.
"They seem to have some sort of food problem," Brancato said.
"They appear to be dazed and ill, and some of them seem to be seizing."
Very sad.
Surf Scooter on the beach in La Push
Yesterday my husband and I drove out to the beach at La Push. There were hundreds of these cute little ducks in the surf and on the beach. We had never seen them there before. I took a few pictures and then discovered there were a number of dead ones laying on the beach.
This morning, I picked up the local paper and found this headline:
100-plus seabirds found dead on 25-mile stretch of West End beach
LAPUSH -- More than 100 dead seabirds have been found on beaches stretching about 25 miles from Kalaloch to Rialto Beach since Friday.
Hundreds more of the birds -- which appear to be primarily white-winged scoters and surf scoters -- appear to be ill, said Mary Sue Brancato, a resource protection officer with Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Brancato said it hasn't yet been determined what caused the birds' deaths or illnesses.
"Often when the birds are in a vulnerable state -- say if they are molting or migrating or malnourished -- and then there is an off-coast storm, we might see something like this," Brancato said.
"They do appear to be molting and in the very beginning stages of migrating south from Alaska and the theory of the storm does hold up.
"However, the thing that is a little different about this situation is that typically we would expect to see several different species, whereas this is just a couple of them that seem to be impacted."
In addition to the large number of dead birds, the ones that are alive on the beach seem to be ill.
"They seem to have some sort of food problem," Brancato said.
"They appear to be dazed and ill, and some of them seem to be seizing."
Very sad.