https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/news/at-least-1000-more-dead-fish-found-n...

At least 1000 more dead fish found near Lievre River

Dead sturgeon along shore of Ottawa River

https://realnoevremya.com/articles/3702-ecological-catastrophe-in-k...

“Seagulls are dying just in front my eyes!” Ecologists take control over wake-up call from Volga River

https://abc3340.com/news/local/fish-kill-in-major-alabama-river-rai...

Fish kill in major Alabama river raising concerns

Monday, August 19th 2019

Another fish kill in a major Alabama River is raising concerns.

Thousands of a particular kind of fish were found dead in the Black Warrior River, located just down stream from the Bankhead lock and dam.

“We shouldn’t be seeing thousands of dead shad floating around dead on the river unless something happened that shouldn’t,” said Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke.

When Brooke put his canoe in the river Friday, he came across something he couldn’t really explain.

Dead shad and only shad.

“It’s pretty weird, a shad fish kill. I just saw gizzard and Redfin shad,” said Brooke.

Right now, he says the cause is unknown but says if this continues, it could be a problem for the river's ecosystem.

“It’s the feed stock for larger order fish, so we don’t want to see the shad stocks crash. That’s a big concern up where the Tyson spill occurred,” said Brooke.

As far as the investigation goes, ADEM says it is aware and looking into it.

Right now, it can’t offer an exact reason as to why this happened.

However, one possible explanation ADEM offered: The heat causes low oxygen levels in the water and shad flounder in low oxygen.

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2019/08/28/many-dead-shorebirds-discover...

Many dead shorebirds discovered on island in Palma Sola Bay

Updated August 27 at 10:31 PM

WEST BRADENTON, Fla. (WWSB) - This has been disturbing scene on an island in Palma Sola Bay known as the rookery. A large number of shorebirds found dead on the island this year, with many over the last few weeks.

“This year I’ve come across 21 dead birds most of them were great egrets, 13 of them," said Jeanette Edwards, Founder of Friends of the Pelicans. "There were a couple snowy egrets, there were a couple of snowy egrets, some ibis, a few pelicans.”

Edwards says she kayaks to the island nearly everyday just to keep a close eye on the birds. She tells us she has been able to rescue nearly two dozen birds this year as well. Edwards says there has been a dramatic increase in the deaths of these birds, even more than last year which experienced horrible red tide.

“My personal opinion is that this bay is very polluted, I know they’ve had a lot of sewage spills, I know there’s a lot of septic tanks that are failing and then there’s all the runoff from the causeway,” said Edwards.

Palma Sola Causeway has had occasional no swim advisories issued over the last two years because of high bacteria levels in the water.

Edwards says one of the birds was found to have salmonella which could happen from taking in food or water contaminated with feces. She tells us it could be weeks before the results come back for many of the other dead birds.

Florida Wildlife Commission says they are working with the state’s Department of Health on a wild bird mortality database and they are encouraging people to not touch or pickup dead birds. Florida’s Department of Health in Manatee County says they will be contacted if it’s discovered there is a health concern related to the birds.

“What I hope is that the city and the county will take this more seriously and find out what is polluting this bay,” said Edwards.

and another:

https://whnt.com/2019/08/27/fish-kill-investigation-underway-in-jac...

Fish kill investigation underway in Jackson County

Posted 10:41 am, August 27, 2019

STEVENSON, Ala. - The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources confirmed Tuesday it is investigating a fish kill reported in Crow Creek in Jackson County.

Next to the dock, near the bank and even on the boat ramp, dozens of dead fish littered the shoreline of crow creek in Stevenson. People who live in the area say they noticed the dead fish Sunday.

"Well, this year I've been putting in about twice a week at least," said Charles Hughes, a Jackson County resident.

Hughes stopped by the creek Tuesday after he heard about the fish kill.

"It's unusual. I don't really know how to think about it you know," Hughes said.

Officials with the environmental watchdog group, Tennessee Riverkeeper do know how they feel about it.

"We know that industry causes these fish kills sometimes too, so we're concerned that the fish are dying, we're concerned about what chemicals might be killing these fish," said David Whiteside, Tennessee Riverkeeper executive director.

The agency said a fishery biologist and a Tennessee Valley Authority biologist visited in the area Monday. Officials said the biologists surveyed the area to determine the extent of where the fish were dying.

The agency is still trying to understand the number and species of fish impacted. Biologists are also working to understand the cause of the fish kill.

Officials told WHNT News 19 it is possible that fish died due to low oxygen levels that tend to occur in the summer when algae dies off from high temperatures. However, officials haven't determined the cause yet.

Local anglers and officials with the Tennessee Riverkeeper hope the agencies find answers soon.

WHNT News 19 has learned the Alabama Department of Environmental Management is involved in the investigation. A spokesperson for ADEM said a Decatur field office representative responded to the area to take dissolved oxygen and water samples.

The TVA said it found out about the fish kill on Monday. The utility company told WHNT News 19 the fish kill has nothing to do with TVA operations. A spokesperson said TVA is supporting the Alabama agencies that are investigating the incident by providing an airboat and airboat operator.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/environment/fish-kill-bunker-me...

September 5, 2019 6:24 PM

New York State, Suffolk County and Southampton Town officials are monitoring a spate of fish kills in western Shinnecock Bay this week after an estimated tens of thousands of bunker were found dead in the water and on nearby shores.

The first event was reported Aug. 28 near the Shinnecock Shores community in East Quogue, the second on Saturday evening in Tiana Bay and a third, also near Shinnecock Shores, on Tuesday night, said Christopher Gobler, a Stony Brook University professor and the director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology.

Gobler noted that fish kills are a natural occurrence but that the frequency of these three in a short amount of time is strange.

“One [fish kill] in one day is not too unusual. Two becomes more unusual,” Gobler said. “Three in a week is a lot.”

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is working with the county Department of Health Services as well as Stony Brook University to monitor the die-offs, a DEC spokeswoman said Thursday. The county was expected to take water samples on Thursday, and the DEC and county would attempt to capture distressed fish for testing, she said. Town officials are also monitoring the situation to determine what, if any, action to take.

“These are not enormous events and they are not unexpected,” said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman. “We are going to monitor and see how much bunker we have. I’m not sounding an environmental alarm here.”

Bunker, also known as menhaden, are a schooling bait fish that are especially vulnerable to low oxygen levels in water, according to the DEC. Low oxygen levels can be triggered by a large number of fish in a small area, excessive algal growth or warm temperatures, and cause a die-off.

Gobler said oxygen levels in the area were already low and that his staffers measured dissolved oxygen levels nearby at 1.6 milligrams per liter on Aug. 26. The lowest DEC standard for marine life is 3 milligrams per liter.

In 2015, three successive fish kills in the Peconic River killed hundreds of thousands of fish. Rising water temperatures, the timing and magnitude of algal blooms, and an unusually large amount of frightened fish in one location caused those events, according to a joint study. Tens of thousands of menhaden also died of suffocation in 2016 when they got caught in the Shinnecock Canal.

Ed Warner Jr., president of the Southampton Town trustees, a governing body charged with overseeing some town waterways, said the presence of bait fish can be a sign of the bay’s health and noted that millions of bunker hatched this year.

“There are a lot of juveniles in the bay, which is good for the ecosystem,” Warner said.

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending-now/15-pilot-whales-dead-in-2nd...

5 pilot whales dead in 2nd mass stranding on Georgia coast in two months

Cox Media Group National Content Desk

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuba-battles-plag...

Cuba battles plague of giant snails

HAVANA — Silently and without pause, the giant African snail has been invading Cuba.

With their shiny, brilliantly striped shells and bodies up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) long, the snails have become public enemy No. 1 for epidemiologists and citizens have grown to fear their ability to transmit diseases and harm crops.

“I never heard of them before, but now they’re everywhere,” said Yusmila Marín, a 29-year-old nurse who lives in a neighborhood rife with the mollusks, whose scientific name is Achatina fulica.

In recent months, Cuban authorities have activated the nationwide civil defense system to battle the snails. But some say the state’s response is inadequate.

Marín and families in the Villa Panamericana neighborhood are keeping children indoors to play due to the danger of infection from the snails, which can transmit a potentially severe brain infection called meningoencephalitis and an abdominal disease known as angiostrongiliasis.

First detected in Cuba in 2014, the snail can now be found throughout Havana and in almost every one of the island’s provinces. It’s not known how the snail arrived in the nation.

It is also found in countries around the world, where it has had similar destructive effects.

Health authorities have asked people to collect snails without touching them with their bare hands and then destroy them in sealed containers. But they still say it will take some time to get the infestation under control.

The snail has no natural predators in Cuba and eats fruits, vegetables and even garbage, allowing it to rapidly proliferate.

“It’s a health problem, an economic problem and an ecological problem, said Isbel Díaz, a biologist who runs a non-governmental environmental group in Havana.

Díaz said many people were doing their best to help, but without proper training or equipment were not collecting or destroying the snails safely.

“It’s a real challenge,” he said. “No country has been able to control this plague and Cuba won’t be able to in the short or mid-term.

EGYPT OCTOBER 5 2019

https://www.facebook.com/1845165892429941/photos/a.1845325855747278...

TRADUCED

Serious topic (Port Said crocodile) EGYPT

Although people take it laughing , but it is very dangerous, where some people hunted Port Said crocodile One meter length and active and healthy and well and others say and swear to God that they saw another crocodile below the stones waves barriers

Surprisingly, they said that the crocodile was dropped from his ship, but any freshwater creature if it descended salt water dies after a short time or at least will collapse physically, but this crocodile was resisting and his mouth was tied so as not to hit anyone and denied the existence of crocodiles salt sea

But on the Internet, we found that the most dangerous species of crocodiles are the crocodiles of the seas and oceans. THEY prey on
Sharks and their mainland on northern Australia

We ask the Ministry of Environment to pay attention to the matter to educate people and I find it difficult to control or expel the crocodiles of salt water from its home, especially if the East branch of the branch in Port Said
And the breadth of its course, a place where they found the crocodile

Birds are dying in Sarasota area, experts struggle to find out why

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/environment/os-ne-birds-dying-...

Oct 17, 2019

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/10/18/dead-loo...

More than 2 dozen dead loons wash up at beach near Sleeping Bear Dunes

Surface Methane 10 21 2019
Over 1250 ppb is unlivable. Methane was about 750 ppb for hundreds of thousands of years before 1800.   There are methane numbers here over 2180 ppb.   The North America and New Madrid is definitely part of the problem.   All those disoriented birds dropping from the sky?  Hmm.

https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/charts/cams/methane-forecasts

https://in.news.yahoo.com/37-migratory-birds-found-dead-155746608.html

37 migratory birds found dead in Rajasthan's Khinchan

7 November 2019

Jodhpur, Nov 7 (PTI) Thirty-seven demoiselle cranes were found dead at Khichan in Phalodi subdivision of Jodhpur on Thursday morning.

Three of the carcasses were sent to a vet dispensary at Machia Biological Park for a medical examination to ascertain the cause of their death.

According to Sevaram Mali, a bird lover, the migratory birds were found dead at different places.

'We received information in the morning that some birds have been spotted dead near Vijay Sagar. When we reached there, we found 15 carcasses,' said Mali.

Later, they received information about the death of more birds near Ratari Nadi.

On reaching their, they found 16 carcasses.

Six birds were found dead at other locations.

A medical board examined the dead birds but failed to reach a conclusion about their death.

'It may be both due to poisoning or disease. For further examination, we have sent the viscera of the birds to the FSL and Disease Diagnostic Centre in Ludhiana,' said a board member and pathologist, Vipin Gupta

https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/117309159/westport-beach-cle...

Westport beach cleaned after dead rats wash up

16:54, Nov 10 2019

The carcasses of hundreds of dead rats that mysteriously washed up on a West Coast beach on Saturday, have been cleaned up.

A spokesperson for the Department of Conservation (DoC) said on Sunday afternoon about 600 rat carcasses had been removed from Westport's North Beach and a follow-up inspection did not find any more carcasses above the high tide lines. Dead fish and birds in the area have also been removed.

The cause of the animals' death still remains unknown. Samples from the rats were being urgently tested, but according to the spokesperson, the results will only be available Monday late afternoon at the earliest.

It is thought that the rats washed up on the beach sometime over Friday and Saturday. DoC Western South Island operations director Mark Davies earlier said one possibility being considered is that the rats were killed by a recent aerial 1080 poison drop at Te Maruia in the Lewis Pass National Reserve, and washed out of the hills by the heavy rain. Te Maruia and Inangahua river catchment feeds into the Buller River and had a plague of rats treated with toxin a week ago.

However, the dead fish and birds that were found along with the rats, puts a question mark over the possible link to the 1080 drop, as that is not consistent with the way 1080 is understood to work.

The poison operation was also more than 140km away from North Beach.

According to the DoC dog owners' are urged to be cautious when taking their dogs to the beach as more rats could wash up over the next few days, but the beach has not been officially closed.

DoC staff will continue to check the beach after high tides over the next couple of days.

and another:

https://stockdailydish.com/volunteers-chronicle-dead-seabirds-on-wa...

Volunteers chronicle dead seabirds on Washington coast

Posted by SDD Contributor on November 9, 2019 at 10:40 pm

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50387924

Rajasthan: 'Thousands' of birds found dead in India's Sambhar lake

More than 1,000 birds have been found dead along the shore of India's biggest inland saltwater lake, a senior forest official has told the BBC.

The birds were discovered around Sambhar Lake, 80km (49 miles) south-west of the city of Jaipur, in the northern state of Rajasthan.

The dead include a number of different species, including migratory birds who flock to the lake every year.

The deaths are being investigated by government agencies.

"We are still counting the dead birds," senior forest official Sanjay Kaushik said. "They are strewn over the entire area around the lake. Some 20 to 25 birds who were still alive are being treated."

The first reports of the birds emerged on Sunday, when they were spotted by tourists visiting the lake.

"We have never seen anything like this," Abhinav Vaishnav, a local bird-watcher, told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Vikas Choudhary, a photographer with the Down To Earth magazine who is in the area, said the dead birds were strewn all over an area stretching from 12 to 15km around the lake.

"I am sure the numbers will rise further, and may even touch 5,000 birds. There are just so many dead birds lying all over the place," Mr Choudhary told the BBC.

The birds, which include ruddy shelduck, ruddy turnstone, northern shoveler, blackwinged stilt and common coot, are being buried in deep pits dug near the water.

Forest official Rajendra Jakhar told Press Trust of India that a hailstorm which hit the area a few days ago may have caused the deaths.

"We are also looking at other possibilities, like toxicity of the water and bacterial or viral infection," he said. A local veterinarian has ruled out bird flu as a reason.

Some of the dead birds have been sent to a laboratory in Bhopal for further examination.

Source

Fish all gone! Gulf of Alaska fishery to close for the first time ever: No more cod: Salmon all but gone: Millions of small sea birds died since 2015

November 2019, thousands of short-tailed shearwaters birds migrating from Alaska were washing up dead on Sydney's iconic beaches

Extremely low cod numbers have lead feds to close the Gulf of Alaska fishery for the first time ever. In an unprecedented response to historically low numbers of Pacific cod, the federal cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska is closing for the 2020 season. It’s a decision that came as little surprise, but it’s the first time the fishery was closed due to concerns of low stock. “We’re on the knife’s edge of this over-fished status,” North Pacific Fisheries Management Council member Nicole Kimball said during talks in Anchorage Friday afternoon. It’s not over-fishing to blame for the die-off, but rather, climate change. Warming ocean temperatures linked to climate change are wreaking havoc on a number of Alaska’s fisheries, worrying biologists, locals and fishermen with low returns that jeopardize fishing livelihoods. A stock assessment this fall put Gulf cod populations at a historic low, with “next to no” new eggs, according to NOAA research biologist Steve Barbeaux, who authored the report.

Up until the emergence of a marine heatwave known as “the blob” in 2014, Gulf cod was doing well. But the heatwave caused ocean temperatures to rise 4-5 degrees. Young cod started dying off, scientists said. “A lot of the impact on the population was due to that first heatwave that we haven’t recovered from,” Barbeaux said during an interview last month. Following the first heatwave, cod numbers crashed by more than half, from 113,830 metric tons in 2014 to 46,080 (a loss of almost 68,000) metric tons in 2017. The decline was steady from there. AK

Last month The Big Wobble reported more misery for Alaskan pink salmon fisheries. Prince William Sound Science Center field season was marked by a low flow and high pre-spawn mortality. This year, virtually no rain led to extremely low flows and field crews observed unprecedented pre-spawning die-offs and unusually late migration into the streams. According to the Prince William Sound Science Center, the fish finally started, what was for many, an ill-fated journey into the streams after some rain in early September. The rain stopped and the rivers dried up again. Soon thousands of fish were restricted to tide pools without enough water to return to the bays. They all suffocated. “During the first 10 days of September, our dead fish count in one of our streams rose from virtually none to nearly 30,000 dead pink salmon, all dying prior to spawning”. “Our field crews estimated 10,000 died over a single night. We have never documented anything like that in the past.”

In November 2019, thousands of short-tailed shearwaters birds migrating from Alaska were washing up dead on Sydney's iconic beaches and the bird deaths had nothing to do with the massive wildfires in the area, thousands more, short-tailed shearwaters were dying out at sea, in what was confirmation of the incredible fish shortages in the Pacific Ocean. The corpses had been spotted at several shorelines including Bondi, Manly and Cronulla. The birds were migrating back to southern Australia to breed after spending the summer in Alaska. But, according to experts, a higher number than usual are dying on the way due to a lack of food. The birds need to be at full strength to make the 14,000km trip over the Pacific but the krill and other fish they feed on have apparently dwindled due to sea temperatures rising.

BirdLife Australia has rendered the problem a 'crisis'. In a statement on its website, the group says: 'For the fifth consecutive year, the sea surface temperatures off Alaska have been unusually warm, which has led to a dire shortage of the shearwaters' marine prey, resulting in thousands of dead shearwaters being washed ashore along Alaska's beaches. 'According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they died of starvation. 'It wasn't a single event, though; instead, it was a series of catastrophic die-offs. 'Starting in late June, these die-offs continued along different sections of the Alaskan coast, occurring progressively further south, through into August. 'Numerous shearwaters also washed up on Russia's Chukotka Peninsula as well. 'Although many thousands of birds were found dead and dying on the beach, this is likely the tip of the iceberg.'

Credit NOAA. The Pacific Blob has returned and is causing havoc for marine life. Click on image to enlarge.

 

It is the tip of the iceberg!

2019 Alaska Seabird Die-off

In May 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Park Service (NPS) began receiving reports of dead and dying seabirds from the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, including near Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.

From late June to early August, thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters were reported dead and washing up on beaches in the Bristol Bay region, or observed weak and attempting to feed on salmon gillnets in inland waters (TBW Quote: most of the salmon had died prior to spawning). By mid-August, the shearwater die-off had extended north, in smaller numbers but widespread locations, into the northern Bering and Chukchi seas along the coasts of Alaska and the Chukotka Peninsula of Russia. Puffins, murres, and auklets were also being reported, but at much lower numbers than shearwaters. Additionally, live Short-tailed Shearwaters have been observed in large numbers this August in the Gulf of Alaska, along the coasts of Glacier Bay and Kenai Fjords national parks, and bays of Kodiak Island. It is unusual to see this species in high abundance in these areas, as it is typically offshore and comes from the southern hemisphere to forage in the Bering and Chukchi seas during the summer and fall.

Historically, seabird die-offs have occurred occasionally in Alaska; however, large die-off events are now occurring each year since 2015. (TBW Quote: millions of small sea birds have been reported dead since 2015, this year it's Short-tailed Shearwaters but recent years have seen puffins, murres, and auklets dying thought to be due to starvation).  

 

Consistently, dead birds examined from the Bering and Chukchi seas during these recent die-offs were determined to have died due to starvation. Seabird carcasses from the 2019 die-off events were collected from multiple locations and sent to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center for examination and testing. Initial results indicate starvation as the cause of death for most locations. However, in southeast Alaska, exposure to saxitoxin (a biotoxin associated with paralytic shellfish poisoning) was linked in June to a localized die-off of breeding Arctic Terns.

The Big Wobble has been reporting an unprecedented seabird die-off in Alaska and Canada since 2015. Climate change is considered by scientists as a significant contributor to seabird declines with reports of British species such as terns and kittiwakes facing an uncertain future as sea temperatures rise. Puffins, in particular, have suffered enormous losses in recent years and a report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature in April warned the iconic species was at risk of extinction. Thousands of dead seabirds have been found washed ashore on sites from islands in the Bering Sea to villages north of the Bering Strait, signs of another large die-off in the warmed-up waters of the North Pacific Ocean. (The actual numbers will be in the millions as most will die at sea.) The dead birds are mostly northern fulmars and short-tailed shearwaters, species that migrate long distances to spend summers in waters off Alaska and other northern regions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported. Also in the mix are some kittiwakes, murres and auklets, the federal agency said.

The cause is being investigated. Necropsies so far show that the birds are emaciated - with no food in their stomachs or intestines and little or no fat on their bodies. "Right now, we know that they are starving to death and can't hold their heads above water, and they're drowning," said Ken Stenek, a teacher in Shishmaref and volunteer in a program that monitors seabirds.

The precise toll is unclear. The new die-off follows a massive loss of common murres in 2015 and 2016, 2017 and 2018, the biggest murre die-off on record in Alaska, and a precursor to near-total reproductive failures for murres in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering. It also follows the deaths of thousands of puffins found last fall on St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs and, prior to that, mass deaths of murres and auklets along the U.S. West Coast. In each death wave, starving birds have left emaciated carcasses, and each wave has been associated with unusually warm marine waters. 

https://www.thebigwobble.org/2019/12/fish-all-gone-gulf-of-alaska-f...

Mystery as hundreds of birds are found DEAD on country road after appearing to 'drop from the sky'

• More than 300 starlings were found on a country lane in Anglesey, North WalesHundreds of birds have been mysteriously found dead as if they had dropped out of the sky.

  'I counted 150 last night but I gave up as there's just hundreds of them littered everywhere.

  'It's as if they just dropped down dead from the sky.'

  Read more:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7781169/Mysterious-moment-...

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/12/18/world/science-health-w...

Recently dead freshwater mussels are piled along the shore of the Clinch River near Wallen Bend, Tennessee. While freshwater mussels have been plagued for decades by habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, sedimentation and other issues, there's a possibility that the die-off in the Clinch River could be connected to infectious disease. | MEAGAN RACEY / U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE / VIA AP

World / Science & Health

Scientists seeking cause of huge freshwater mussel die-off in Tennessee

AP

Dec 18, 2019

KYLES FORD, TENNESSEE – On a recent late fall afternoon at Kyles Ford, the white branches of sycamore trees overhung the banks of the Clinch River, leaves slowly turning yellow. Green walnuts covered the ground. The shallow water ran fast and cold over the rocky bottom, but it was littered with the white shells of dead mussels.

Freshwater mussels range from about the size of a large button to the size of a billfold, but the work they do for ecosystems is enormous. They can filter around 8-10 gallons of river water each day, cleaning it of algae, silt and even heavy metals and making the whole river a better environment for fish, amphibians, plants and bugs. Mussels also benefit the people who use their rivers as a source of drinking water.

That’s why scientists are working quickly to discover the cause of a massive mussel die-off on the Clinch and understand whether it is related to similar die-offs on at least five U.S. rivers and another in Spain.

The Clinch River, winding 300 miles through Appalachia, is home to 133 species of fish and is one of the most important rivers for freshwater mussels in the world, with 46 different species — more than in all of Europe.

“I always try to get people to call this area a temperate Amazon, because the biodiversity here really is off the charts,” biologist Jordan Richard, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said recently as he stood in waders, surveying the mussel population at Kyles Ford, a rural community of around 525 near the Virginia border.

Richard slogged through thigh-deep water in search of pheasantshell mussels, until recently one of the most abundant species on the river. He spots them easily although to the untrained eye, they aren’t so obvious. Mussels bury themselves in the riverbed, digging in with their single foot and leaving only a crescent of their shells visible.

In 2016, Richard noticed the pheasantshells were dying in large numbers — the population dropping from 94,000 in 2016 to less than 14,000 this year on a 200-meter (219-yard) stretch. He estimates hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, have died in the larger river.

Richard found reports of similar die-offs over the years in rivers around the world, but he didn’t find many answers.

Over the past century, mussel populations everywhere have declined steeply due to pollution, habitat loss and climate change, yet the current decline looks to be something different.

Richard and a team of scientists suspect an infectious disease. By comparing healthy pheasantshell mussels with dying ones, the team is narrowing down a list of suspected pathogens.

“All living things are chock-full of microorganisms, and we don’t have any sort of map for what is healthy inside a mussel,” Richard said.

University of Wisconsin epidemiologist Tony Goldberg is helping with the investigation. He specializes in wildlife diseases of unknown cause — and recently he’s been busy.

“Along with invasive species, we’re seeing invasive pathogens,” Goldberg said. “Often it’s the coup de grace for a species that is holding on by a thread.”

Disease is a big part of the global extinction crisis, he said. For example, white nose syndrome was first discovered in a single New York cave in 2007 and has since killed millions of bats, and chytrid fungus is responsible for the demise of tree frogs and about 200 other amphibian species worldwide.

But Goldberg is hopeful the freshwater mussel team, which includes scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and a nonprofit conservation group, will be able to find the cause of the mussel die-offs and a way to stop them.

“I see it as a race against time, not an impossible task,” Goldberg said. “We’re all motivated by the sinking realization that if we lose these mussels, the rivers we all love are never going to be the same.”

The Clinch, which is relatively pristine on its upper reaches, has seen 10 mussel species go extinct — it used to have 56. Another 20 species there are endangered, including mussels with evocative names such as fluted kidneyshell, snuffbox, birdwing pearlymussel, and shiny pigtoe.

Preliminary results indicate that whatever is killing the pheasantshell mussels on the Clinch is not the culprit in other die-offs under investigation in Wisconsin, Michigan, the Pacific Northwest and Spain.

“There’s not some mussel Ebola sweeping across the world to take out every mussel everywhere,” Goldberg said.

That also means there’s no single cure for what’s killing them.

In Spain, biologist Rafael Araujo is working with Goldberg to figure out what is killing the last of the endangered Spengler’s freshwater mussels in the Imperial Canal on the Ebro River.

“We know that the problem is environmental (dams, water pollution, excess fertilizers, pesticides, exotic species, lack of water, etc.), but we also think that there could be a pathogen (bacteria and/or virus) that is making things worse,” Araujo wrote in an email.

In Oregon and Washington, Emilie Blevins is studying the die-off of western pearlshell mussels in her role as a biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Blevins likens mussel beds to coral reefs in terms of their diversity and contributions to other aquatic life. But she acknowledges, “They just don’t get the spotlight of some other big, beautiful species. A big part of all of our work is … spotlighting how important they are because if we don’t value them, they’re not going to be around.”

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/birds-fallen-sk...

Birds 'fallen from sky' found dead in street in latest starling death mystery

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGE: Mystery over deaths of more than 20 starlings

17:25, 20 DEC 2019

Residents were left puzzled and horrified when they woke up to find more than 20 dead starlings strewn across their street.

The birds, which appeared to have fallen out of the sky around a powerline that runs through Sherborne Avenue, Netherton, were found in the morning by people living nearby.

One resident said: “It looks like they just fell out of the sky."

It's unclear what caused the deaths of the birds, and whether they fell from the sky or died while on the ground.

The macabre find comes a week after a similar event in North Wales , where more than 300 starlings were found dead on a country lane in Anglesey .

Speaking to the ECHO at the scene this afternoon, the Netherton resident said: “There’s plenty of cats around here so at least they’ll have a good day.

“I just want someone to move them because my son is touchy about things like this.”

Investigators found the Anglesey birds had died from trauma upon hitting the ground after becoming disoriented while flying as a group - a natural phenomena called a "murmuration."

A spokesperson for the RSPB, the UK's national bird charity, said: "It’s always concerning to see this happen."

"They had possibly been confused by strong sunlight reflected off wet ground."

According to the RSPB, the starling population in the UK has decreased by 66% in recent years, but it is currently unknown why numbers are dwindling.

Another resident of Sherborne Avenue said: “we usually see thousands of them on the powerlines.

https://www.kotatv.com/content/news/Birds-are-dropping-dead-across-...

Birds are dropping dead across Rapid City

Jan 13, 2020

https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/01/26/greens-not-convinced-by-authorit...

Greens not convinced by authorities’ explanations over dead flamingos

January 26 2020

The Green Party on Sunday said they were not convinced by the government services’ explanations that it was lead poisoning and the cold that led to the deaths of around 20 flamingo birds in the Larnaca salt lake.
The dead birds were found on Saturday with authorities saying their deaths were exacerbated by the cold weather. The Game and Fauna service said the stress from the cold along with potential lead poisoning could have accelerated the death of the birds.
But the Green Party on Sunday said they were not convinced by this explanation calling for a probe on whether sewerage waste and other liquids from pipelines in the area end up in the salt lake.
The head of the Game and Fauna Fund, Pantelis Hadjiyerou, said on Saturday lead pellets found in their stomachs caused their deaths. He said they could have been poisoned by lead pellets left in the salt lake, following the shutdown of a shooting range, but they could also have been infected from another region in the world, as flamingos are migratory birds.
The party said Hadjiyerou’s explanations raised more questions since the shooting range was moved some 15 years ago while the salt lake bed had been thoroughly cleaned at the time.
It also recalled that two government ministers gave reassurances to the head of the party a few weeks ago that there was no poisoning risk for the birds from the lead contained in pellets and the material shooting discs are made of.
The argument that the flamingos could have been poisoned with lead from another region “is completely baseless” the party said, recalling that the same argument was voiced in 2003 on a similar occasion but was later proven wrong by facts.
The party said they feel the Game and Fauna service downplayed the case and expect for the results of analyses of the salt lake mud made over the years to be made public as a proof that there is no lead poisoning risk.
Hadjiyerou said on Saturday the deaths were not particularly concerning, as approximately so many flamingos die each year.They also expect to see the results of the histological analysis of the dead flamingos, they said.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/-Iran:-massacre-of-birds-on-the-Casp...

Iran: massacre of birds on the Caspian Sea, almost 6,000 carcasses. The cause is unknown

01/30/2020, 17.12

Among the affected species the flamingo, the Northern shoveler and the coot. The tests would have ruled out (avian) flu or Newcastle disease. Ban on hunting or selling birds, burning animal carcasses. Among the possible causes, botulinum poisoning from rotting roots.

Tehran (AsiaNews) - At least 6 thousand migratory birds have been found dead in the Miankaleh peninsula, in the province of Māzandarān, northern Iran. Official Irna news agency reports the carcasses were found along the banks of the Caspian Sea that border the villages of Galoogah and Qalehpayan, in the south-eastern town of Behshahr.
Local witnesses report that, on the fourth day of monitoring, the number of dead birds reached 5900. Three of the most affected species: the flamingo, the Northern shoveler and the coot. In a period of international alert for the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, which started from an animal market in Wuhan, China, even the news of a (mysterious) death of birds can cause alarm.
At the moment, the causes of the death are not yet known and the veterinary organizations have not made an official pronouncement. However, the latest tests would have ruled out (bird flu) or Newcastle disease as there were no symptoms such as bruising, bleeding and enlarged spleen.
Hossein-Ali Ebrahimi, head of the environmental department of Mazandaran province, confirms the ban on hunting any species of migratory bird in the eastern province, until further notice, to guarantee the health of the population. At the same time, the sale of birds is also prohibited, until further investigations into the causes of death are made.
In the meantime, the authorities collected the carcasses and burned them as a precaution. Ebrahimi urged the entire population of Mazandaran not to buy or consume wild birds in order to ensure their health. Ali Aboutalebi, an environmentalist in the area, points out that similar cases of mysterious deaths have occurred in the area's forests in recent years; the analyzes showed that some birds were allergic to a particular type of algae and, more generally, "bird deaths show a high risk of poisoning or contamination".
Water pollution is one of the reasons for the massacres of animals. Safar Ali Makenali, deputy director of the Organization of Health and Veterinary Prevention, talks about possible botulinum poisoning and the origin of the toxin to be found in the "roots of decaying plants".
The Miankaleh peninsula is a 48 km long strip between 1.3 and 3.2 km wide, which separates the Gorgan bay from the Caspian Sea. It hosts several unique birds from the Caspian region, as well as reptiles found only in the area. The place is also an important internationally recognized refuge for migratory birds. Excessive grazing, illegal hunting, fishing, deforestation and the unplanned spread of villages are some of the challenges that pose a threat to the region's environment.

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2020/02/african-and-middle-east-locust-...

Monday, 3 February 2020
African and Middle East Locust swarms update: A day after Pakistan declared a state of emergency Somalia has declared a national emergency: Agriculture Organization (FAO) "worst situation in 25 years"

Somalia has become the first country in the Horn of Africa to declare a locust infestation sweeping the region as a national emergency. The country's Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Sunday the desert locust surge "poses a major threat to Somalia's fragile food security situation"."Food sources for people and their livestock are at risk," it added. "The desert swarms are uncommonly large and consume huge amounts of crops and forage.

"The ministry said the emergency declaration was made to focus efforts and raise funds because it was critical to contain the locust swarms before harvests are due in April. Desert locusts - whose destructive infestations cause large-scale crop damage and hunger - are a species of grasshopper that live largely solitary lives until a combination of conditions promote breeding and lead them to form massive swarms."Given the severity of this desert locust outbreak, we must commit our best efforts to protect the food security and livelihoods of Somali people," said Minister of Agriculture Said Hussein Iid."If we don't act now, we risk a severe food crisis that we cannot afford."

According to the Regional Food Security and Nutrition Working Group, East Africa is already experiencing a high degree of food insecurity, with more than 19 million people facing acute hunger. The locusts have led to what the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has termed the "worst situation in 25 years" in the Horn of Africa. The FAO says the current invasion is known as an "upsurge" - when an entire region is affected - however, if it gets worse and cannot be contained, more than a year or more, it would become what is known as a "plague" of locusts. There have been six major desert locust plagues in the 1900s, the last of which was in 1987-89. The last significant surge was in 2003-05.

A state of emergency was declared in Pakistan yesterday to tackle the biggest locust attack in decades. The insects are destroying crops in Punjab province. The Punjab province in Pakistan is the main region for agricultural production. Prime Minister Imran Khan approved a National Action Plan (NAP) that requires a sum of Rs 7.3 billion to overcome the crisis. Minister for National Food Security Khusro Bakhtiar informed the National Assembly about the gravity of the situation. Khan ordered the formation of a high-level committee to be headed by Bakhtiar to take decisions at the federal level for the elimination of insects. He has directed the authorities concerned to take immediate measures on the basis of damage of ripened crops.

Southwest Asia and the Red Sea area also affected

Numerous desert locust swarms have been breeding in India, Iran and Pakistan since June 2019. And some have migrated to southern Iran where recent heavy rains have nurtured a breeding ground that could generate swarms in the spring. Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen are also seeing substantial breeding activity that could see locust bands expand into swarms in the coming months, FAO added. The agency concluded that it stands ready to leverage its expertise and facilitate a coordinated response. UN

Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are dealing with desert locust swarms of “unprecedented size and destructive potential” that could spill over into more countries in East Africa, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday. Destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of crops, the outbreak is impacting the region’s food insecurity. The UN agency urged for a collective campaign to deal with the crisis, concerned over the risk that the swarms spill over into more countries in East Africa, “if efforts to deal with the voracious pest are not scaled up across the region”. South Sudan and Uganda are not currently affected but are at risk.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/a-bat-tornado-has-ta...

A ‘bat tornado’ has taken over a Queensland town

Thousands of bats have taken over the Queensland town of Ingham, reaching “biblical plague proportions”. 

February 6, 202011:46am

A “bat tornado” has taken over the far north Queensland town of Ingham, reaching “biblical plague proportions”.
“It just seems to me that every bat in Australia is now in Ingham,” Mayor of Hinchinbrook Council Raymon Jayo told A Current Affair in a segment on Wednesday night.
The animals — also known as flying foxes or fruit bats — now outnumber the town’s population by hundreds of thousands.
“It’s like a bat tornado over the town,” Ingham resident Adam Kaurila said.
The town’s Botanical Gardens have been completely overrun with swarms, with some trees so full of bats that they’re buckling under the weight.

The colony is growing at a rapid rate, moving into the trees surrounding the local kindergarten and primary school, concerning a growing group of parents who fear for the safety of their children.
Adam and Susanne Kaurila, who have two daughters, are considering pulling them out of the school for fear of their children being scratched by a diseased bat or getting sick due to exposure.
“They’re not stepping a foot in that ground until something is, we know that is, being done,” Susanne said.

Nearly 250 kilometres away in the town of Charters Towers, one boy knows all too well about the risks of being exposed to the animals.
The town has been overrun by thousands of bats for years, causing the local park to permanently close due to safety risks.
Cody Ruge said he and his mother Renee were listening to music when a bat “just drops out of the tree and like hits the table and as it was coming up it must have scratched me or something”.
He was taken to hospital after he was attacked to receive a vaccine, which required him to have 11 injections.

The biggest concern when it comes to being attacked by a diseased bat is the possibility of contracting lyssavirus, a rabies-like disease contracted through bites and scratches.
In Australia, there have been confirmed cases of bat lyssavirus in humans, all three of which were fatal.
While bats do carry diseases, these are only transferred via scratches or bites, so the community risk level is low, said Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland’s Des Boyland.
He said the animals are vital to our ecosystem, and that dispersing bats can be costly and “rarely very successful”.
Bats are a protected species under Queensland law, meaning the councils in both Ingham and Charters Towers are limited in how they can try and move the animals on.
While nonlethal methods like smoke, noise and light can be used, these methods can’t be put into place when the bats are breeding.

“There’s four different species and because they all have young at different times, there’s hardly a window of opportunity when we can interact with these bats to try and move them on,” Councillor Jayo said.
Local federal member for Charters Towers Bob Katter said he’d been trying to move the bats on from the area for years, and if it were up to him, he’d “be down here with a shotgun”.
“There comes a point where I think breaking the law really becomes ‘dogging it’, as we say in North Queensland. And I think that point has probably been reached,” he said.
In a statement provided to A Current Affair, the Department of Environment and Science (DES) said they were “working to support the Hinchinbrook Shire Council and Charters Towers Regional Council to help them manage flying-fox roosts in their council areas”.

https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/in-focus/article/thousands-...

Thousands of dead fish found floating in stream near Tamil Nadu's Nanjundapuram

Thousands of dead fishes have been found floating on the surface of a stream near the Nanjundapuram check dam in Tamil Nadu. Samples from the water have been collected and sent for examination.

Chennai: Locals in Tamil Nadu alerted concerned authorities about the deaths of as many as a thousand fishes found floating in a stream near the check dam in Nanjundapuram on Thursday. Reports suggest that effluents released into water bodies by bleaching units in Selvapuram could have led to the deaths.
The stream where dead fishes can be seen flows from the Vellalore check dam and flows all the way to the Singanallur tank via the check dam in Nanjundapuram. A team of experts with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) arrived at the spot and collected water samples that have been sent for examination to ascertain the cause of the deaths.
Residents of areas in and around Nanjundapuram claim that they first saw dead fishes rising up in the stream on Thursday. In almost no time, close to a thousand fishes had reportedly died. This has now led to a situation where the stench of rotting fish carcasses is making it difficult for locals to carry out their daily chores. Some suspect that the loss of marine life could have been the result of a lack of oxygen.

The district environmental engineer cited a preliminary inspection of the water to claim that the total dissolved solvents level in it is around 1,000. Dense water hyacinth in the stream is believed to have led to the depletion of oxygen levels that resulted in the deaths of the fishes. The local MLA has also taised the issue with the city corporation, demanding immediate action in this regard. More details are awaited as this is a developing story.

Check dams, like the one in Nanjundapuram, are used in concentrated-flow areas. They are not usually used in streams or channels. Temporary barriers, check dams prevent erios and promote sedimentation by slowing flow velocities to filtering concentrated flows.

https://yonews.org/at-least-15-birds-found-mysteriously-dead-on-roa...

At least 15 birds found mysteriously dead on road in Abbotsford, British Columbia
February 16, 2020

At least 15 birds found mysteriously dead on road in Abbotsford, British Columbia

Ministry of Agriculture notified of the strange occurrence on No. 4 Road The mysterious sight of over a dozen feathered-black carcasses on a rural road between Abbotsford and Chilliwack caused one woman to pull over to get a closer look. Katie Hogan says she doesn’t know how the flock of birds met their end, but she counted 15 bodies in total. “The [birds’] insides were out,” she said. “I don’t know what kind of birds they are, but they are smaller than a crow and black.” Over a dozen of my brothers and sisters found dead on a rural road in #Abbotsford. WHY?!?! pic.twitter.com/SknRYpyo9T — Patrick Penner (@portmoodypigeon) February 15, 2020

Source

Like a thief in the night! Locust Plague Timeline: The Biblical plague started ironically at the holiest site in Islam in 2019: It now stretches from the Chinese border to South Africa: New swarms in China, Botswana and South Sudan.

The worst locust outbreak in nearly a hundred years is spreading fast, the FAO yesterday announced South Sudan and Botswana, the first southern African nation has been invaded by migratory locusts and in a separate, unconfirmed report the locust plague has reached the Western borders of coronavirus-hit China, the area of the plagues are vast and the numbers of countries now affected enormous, see map above. A small plague was reported on TBW back in Jan 2019 ironically at the holiest site in Islam. The locusts were filmed swarming around the Great Mosque in Mecca, since then the plague has stretched from the Chinese border to South Africa. See Timeline Below

The worst locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in 70 years has reached South Sudan, a country where roughly half the population already faces hunger after years of civil war, officials announced Tuesday. Around 2,000 locusts were spotted inside the country, Agriculture Minister Onyoti Adigo told reporters. Authorities will try to control the outbreak, he added. The locusts have been seen in Eastern Equatorial state near the borders with Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

All have been affected by the outbreak that has been influenced by the changing climate in the region. The situation in those three countries "remains extremely alarming," the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said in its latest Locust Watch update Monday. Locusts also have reached Sudan, Eritrea, Tanzania and more recently Uganda.

The soil in South Sudan's Eastern Equatorial has a sandy nature that allows the locusts to lay eggs easily, said Meshack Malo, a country representative with the FAO. At this stage "if we are not able to deal with them ... it will be a problem," he said. South Sudan is even less prepared than other countries in the region for a locust outbreak, and its people are arguably more vulnerable. More than 5 million people are severely food insecure, the U.N. humanitarian office says in its latest assessment, and some 860,000 children are malnourished. Five years of civil war shattered South Sudan's economy, and lingering insecurity since a 2018 peace deal continues to endanger humanitarians trying to distribute aid. Another local aid worker was shot and killed last week, the U.N. said Tuesday. The locusts have travelled across the region in swarms the size of major cities.

Botswana the first southern African nation has been invaded by migratory locusts

Botswana's Ministry of Agriculture and Security on Tuesday announced that the southern African nation has been invaded by migratory locusts. Plant protection officer Velleminah Pelokgale informed farmers that there is an outbreak of a migratory locust in Ngamiland area in the northern part of the country. She appealed to the public to report to members of the public to report suspected sightings of the locusts to the nearest agriculture office. Botswana is believed to be the first southern African country to register the first case of a locust outbreak.

The swarms of billions of locusts have been destroying crops in Kenya, which hasn't seen such an outbreak in 70 years, as well as Somalia and Ethiopia, which haven't seen this in a quarter of a century. The insects have exploited favourable wet conditions after unusually heavy rains and experts say climate change is expected to bring more of the same.

Locust plague reaches coronavirus-hit China

Locust plague reaches coronavirus-hit China after wreaking havoc across Africa Chilling footage has shown thousands of insects swarming the skies at a border in China. They reportedly come from a plague that has devastated east Africa in recent weeks But the Communist Party of China has tried to downplay the severity of the swarms reaching the country. They claim their modern technology and sufficient stocks which have not been seen in Africa will prevent any widespread damage. That has had little impact among residents already worried about the spread of coronavirus though, which has already killed 1,770 people in mainland China. Another said: “You can believe what the experts say? Just listen to it.” One expert, quoted by the Epoch Times, warned that the locusts could pose a direct threat to China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. But others were less worried, suggesting they would not be able to spread into the snowy region of Xinjiang. Star

Locust plague timeline

Jan 2019: The holiest site in Islam has been hit by a plague of locusts, forcing cleaners into action to drive the insects out. Footage shared on social media showed the insects swarming around the Great Mosque in Mecca, which hosts millions of Muslim pilgrims every year. TBW

April 2019: A locust outbreak in the Arabian Peninsula has been spreading to Iran, threatening crops and food security in large areas of the coastal province of Hormozgan, an official said.
Director of a department at Horkozgan's agricultural organization told Tasnim that Iran is facing the worst locust attack in the past 40 years. TBW

 

May 2019: "A tenth of the world's population in danger!" Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen and Oman all in the path of a massive locust swarm. TBW

June 2019: In what is becoming an increasing problem in 2019 yet another locust plague is attacking crops on an unsuspected country. An army of locusts coming from the Pakistan side has laid siege to a western Indian border district. Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district is witnessing the biggest attack in 26 years, said the Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), headquartered in Jodhpur. TBW

June 2019: Millions of locusts have devastated at least 2,000 hectares of crops in Sardinia, Italian farmers union Coldiretti said on Monday, with experts calling the invasion the worst in six decades.
The most affected areas are Nuoro, Ottana and Orani in the middle of the Mediterranean island, with many areas blanketed by the insects, Coldiretti said in a statement. TBW

 

Dec 2019: Biblical sized plagues bringing Somalia to its knees: Record-breaking drought: Cholera epidemic: The worst flooding in living memory: And the biggest locust invasion in 25 years TBW

Jan 2020: The most serious outbreak of desert locusts in 25 years is spreading across East Africa and posing an unprecedented threat to food security in some of the world's most vulnerable countries, authorities say. Unusual climate conditions are partly to blame. The locust swarms hang like shimmering dark clouds on the horizon in some places. Roughly the length of a finger, the insects fly together by the millions and are devouring crops and forcing people in some areas to bodily wade through them. TBW

Jan 2020: Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are dealing with desert locust swarms of “unprecedented size and destructive potential” that could spill over into more countries in East Africa, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday. Destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of crops, the outbreak is impacting the region’s food insecurity. The UN agency urged for a collective campaign to deal with the crisis, concerned over the risk that the swarms spill over into more countries in East Africa, “if efforts to deal with the voracious pest are not scaled up across the region”. TBW

Jan 2020: Locust Plague Update" Devastation is unsurmountable." The unprecedented plagues of locusts sweeping across East Africa to grow 500 times bigger by June: One swarm contains billions of locusts. TBW

Feb 2020: A state of emergency was declared in Pakistan to tackle the biggest locust attack in decades. The insects are destroying crops in Punjab province. The Punjab province in Pakistan is the main region for agricultural production. Prime Minister Imran Khan approved a National Action Plan (NAP) that requires a sum of Rs 7.3 billion to overcome the crisis. Minister for National Food Security Khusro Bakhtiar informed the National Assembly about the gravity of the situation. TBW

Feb 2020: Somalia has become the first country in the Horn of Africa to declare a locust infestation sweeping the region as a national emergency. The country's Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Sunday the desert locust surge "poses a major threat to Somalia's fragile food security situation"."Food sources for people and their livestock are at risk," it added. "The desert swarms are uncommonly large and consume huge amounts of crops and forage. TBW

Feb 2020" Uganda scrambled to respond to the arrival of the biggest locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in decades, while the United Nations warned Monday that “we simply cannot afford another major shock” to an already vulnerable region. An emergency government meeting hours after the locusts were spotted inside Uganda on Sunday decided to deploy military forces to help with ground-based pesticide spraying, while two planes for aerial spraying will arrive as soon as possible, a statement said. TBW

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/more-dead-starlin...

More dead starlings found in North Wales - but police say 5G and UFOs aren't to blame
Tests are being carried out on the latest discovery to found out how they died

15:34, 25 FEB 2020

A group of dead starlings found on the coastal path are being tested by police.
Nine dead birds were discovered between Porthmadog and Criccieth , with rural crime officers saying their deaths are thought to be a result of a "natural phenomenon".

A tweet by North Wales Police 's rural crime team said: "More dead starlings have been recovered, this time from the Wales Coastal Path near Cricieth.
"Don’t be alarmed. We think this is a natural phenomenon. No 5G, no UFOs and hopefully no criminality. They are being recovered for toxicology tests."
It comes after 300 dead starlings were found on Anglesey in December in a case which mystified experts

and another:

https://www.dailyinterlake.com/article/20200225/AP/302259922

Investigation underway after 7 swans found dead in Montana

AP
February 25, 2020 at 11:01 am

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — An investigation has started in southern Montana after seven trumpeter swans were found dead at a pond near Bozeman, wildlife officials said.
The state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks received a report of dead swans between the towns of Belgrade and Manhattan on Friday, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported Monday.
Biologists and wardens collected the animals' bodies Saturday, department spokesman Morgan Jacobson said.
“We still don’t have a cause of death,” Jacobson said, adding that the agency has not ruled out any causes including poaching or the swans eating moldy grain.
Trumpeter swans are on the state's species of concern list, according to Montana Field Guides' website. The list helps resource managers make decisions about species conservation and data collection priorities.
Trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl in North America, experts said. The birds can be up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length, have a wingspan up to about 7 feet (2 meters) and weigh over 20 pounds (9 kilograms).

CHINA Chicken dying of 'unknown' reasons.

https://www.facebook.com/rodolfomartin.brenessalvatierra.5/videos/2...

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2020/03/hundreds-of-billions-of-locusts...

Wednesday, 11 March 2020
HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of locusts are swarming through parts of East Africa and South Asia as a new generation of immature groups are forming from KENYA all the way to PAKISTAN

Hundreds of billions of locusts are swarming through parts of East Africa and South Asia in the worst infestation for a quarter of a century, threatening crops and livelihoods. Credit Reuters.

On January the 11th, 2019, the holiest site in Islam was swarmed by a plague of locusts, forcing cleaners into action to drive the insects out. The Great Mosque in Mecca, which hosts millions of Muslim pilgrims every year and is the holiest site in Islam was the birthplace of a plague which in just over 12 months would grow into billions, stretching from the western border of China sweeping through Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, through Arabia the Middle East, northern Africa and all the way down to Southern Africa. TBW

Desert Locust situation update

New swarms forming in the Horn of Africa The situation remains extremely alarming in the Horn of Africa, specifically Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia where widespread breeding is in progress and new swarms are starting to form, representing an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods at the beginning of the upcoming cropping season.

KENYA.
Widespread swarm breeding continues in northern and central counties where an increasing number of hopper bands and first-generation immature swarms are forming. This may be supplemented by new-generation immature swarms arriving from Somalia. Further concentration is expected in Marsabit and Turkana. Aerial and ground control operations continue.

ETHIOPIA.
Breeding continues within a widespread area of Oromiya and SNNPR regions, including the Rift Valley, where early instar hopper bands are forming in some places. Immature swarms are present in the south where cross-border movements are likely from adjacent areas of Somalia and Kenya. Aerial and ground control operations continue.

SOMALIA.
Late instar hopper bands, maturing adult groups and at least one mature swarm on the northwest coast where egg-laying continues. Ground control operations underway with biopesticides.

SUDAN.
Late instar hopper band, fledgelings and immature adult group and swarm on the southern coast of the Red Sea near the Eritrea border. Scattered adults in Tokar Delta, the northeast and in the Nile Valley.

ERITREA.
Immature adult groups on the northern coast of the Red Sea near the Sudan border. Hopper groups on the Buri Peninsula.

SAUDI ARABIA.
Mature swarm and laying adult groups near the Persian Gulf between Dammam and Qaryat Al Ulya. Scattered adults on the central Red Sea coast.

KUWAIT.
Immature swarms in the north and near Kuwait City.

UAE.
Immature swarm on the western coast near Qatar.

IRAN.
Swarms laying eggs in the southwest (southern Khuzestan, Busherh, southern Fars, western Hormozgan provinces) that will start to hatch later this week and form hopper bands. Local breeding continues in the southeast where hoppers are forming groups and bands in eastern Hormozgan. Control operations are in progress.

PAKISTAN.
Mature adult groups laying eggs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan, Lucky Marwat) and Baluchistan (Dalbandin, Kharan, Khuzdar, Washtuk, Turbat) that will hatch during the second half of March and form hopper groups and small bands. New generation immature groups and small swarms are likely to start forming in Baluchistan by the end of March. FAO

Hundreds of billions of locusts swarm in East Africa in pictures.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2020/mar/10/panic...

Panic spread as crows, cranes found dead

10th March 2020 06:17 AM
Apart from an outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Kerala, the sudden death of around 12 cranes in Vidyaranyapuram in Mysuru, has got residents concerned.

MYSURU, HASSAN: Apart from an outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Kerala, the sudden death of around 12 cranes in Vidyaranyapuram in Mysuru, has got residents concerned.
They discovered cranes dying for a week, and had alerted the local corporator and other authorities. The cranes were found dead on the streets and on also the terrace of a house. They could not intervene or do much to save the birds, as they died within 3-5 minutes after they collapsed to the ground.
Local corporator Ramprasad visited the locality and took the help of veterinarian Dr Nagraj to collect the carcasses which were sent to a laboratory at the Veterinary College, Bangaluru

and another:

https://thelogicalindian.com/news/bats-death-kerala-20106

Dozens Of Bats Found Dead In Kerala; Officials Collect Samples

Published : 11 March 2020

Dr KV Uma, district animal husbandry, told the media that samples have been collected from dead bats to be tested in the lab.
The residents of Karassery panchayat in Kozhikode district of Kerala on Tuesday, March 10, found dozens of bats lying dead in the Kaarimoola neighbourhood.

Locals informed the officials, who later came to take stock of the situation. Dr KV Uma, district animal husbandry, told the media that samples have been collected from dead bats to be tested in the lab., reported The Indian Express. She said the officials have cremated and incinerated the dead bats.

Kerala has also detected two strains of bird flu in two poultry farms in Kozhikode district.

The H5 and H7 strains of the flu under the Type-A Influenza were confirmed at the farms through tests after the mass death of chickens in poultry farms.

On March 9, officials who are part of rapid response teams started culling as many as 12,000 birds, mainly chicken, love birds and turkey.

The culling of birds took place in a one-km radius of the poultry farms in Vengeri and Kadiyathoor, the outbreak site.

As a preventive measure, the officials have ordered to shut the closure of farms as well as shops selling eggs and chicken within a ten-km radius of the outbreak epicentre. The government has also assured the owners that they will be compensated for their losses.

The residents of Karassery were also worried due to the Nipah virus outbreak that was reported in Kozhikode in 2018, which killed 18 people in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.

https://starofmysore.com/bird-flu-scare-amidst-coronavirus-in-kodagu/

Bird Flu scare amidst Coronavirus in Kodagu

Saturday 21 March 2020 , 11:06 am

More than 20 crows found dead at Kottamudi
Napoklu: Residents of Kodagu, who are panicked following a man being tested positive for Coronavirus, are now a worried lot after more than 20 crows were found dead behind the Anganwadi Centre at Kottamudi in Hodduru Gram Panchayat limits yesterday, which has triggered Bird Flu scare.
Dead crows were also found at the coffee estates in Kottamudi and it is suspected that more crows could be dead in forests and other coffee estates in the surroundings. But there are doubts as to why only crows were found dead and not any other birds and whether the birds have died of Bird Flu or other disease.
Following the death of crows, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anees Kanmani Joy has ordered a team of veterinarians to inspect the place and investigate into the death of crows following which the team has left for Kottamudi.
Meanwhile, the DC said that the exact reason for the death of crows would be known only after conducting necessary tests. It is learnt that there are no high tension power lines in the vicinity and if at all the crows were electrocuted, their carcasses would not have fallen in different places.
As crows live in groups, there are chances that the crows might have consumed some poisonous substances which resulted in their deaths and the reason for their death would be known only after receiving the report from the laboratory.  

https://www.kxan36news.com/over-70-aerfugler-found-dead-has-probabl...

This is an unusual situation, ” says Per Espen Fjeld of the Norwegian nature inspectorate.
He has kept on with the bird for over 50 years and have never experienced anything like.

CONCERNED: Per Espen Fjeld of the Norwegian nature inspectorate is concerned about the number of dead ærfugler. Here pictured in connection with a different matter.
Photo: Philip Hofgaard / NRK
– I have never seen that so many birds die in such a short time, ” says Fjeld.
the Norwegian nature inspectorate has received many reports of dead ærfugler and birds that are clearly struggling along the coast from Bamble and upwards in the county of Vestfold.

Why do the birds die have been uncertain, but now the national veterinary institute have found the answer.
Concerned about the wildlife in the Oslo fjord after the discovery of plastkuler Die of starvation

Around 70 birds are collected from the coast of Agder to Østfold. Six of the birds are now obdusert and analyzed by the national veterinary institute. The preliminary autopsy report shows no signs of bird flu, but the birds are thin and emaciated.
” We don’t know yet why ærfuglene die of hunger, says a senior adviser Fred Marius Svendsen with the County governor in Vestfold and Telemark.

There is therefore now collect the birds in to find out why they do not receive enough food. The birds have a varied diet of benthic fauna, such as mussels, crabs, benthos, polychaete worms, and starfish.
About some of these species have had a reduction, one knows not yet sure, ” says Svendsen.
request an exception from hytteforbud to salvage the common eider Decline in mussels

Information such as the Norwegian nature inspectorate has received from the fishermen and local, may, nevertheless, indicate a decline in blåskjellbestanden through the several years.
Back in my youth we found mussels everywhere. Now we see almost nothing, ” says Fjeld.
the Norwegian nature inspectorate, the national veterinary institute and Norwegian institute for nature research are now working closely together to find a more research-based and safer cause.

This is how you want to see the common eider. Here depicted in the wind in Ballstad, Nordland.
Photo: Johannes Berg
Fjeld of the Norwegian nature inspectorate do not think there is a danger for the population.
– It will lead to a bestandsnedgang, but other places in the country it goes very well with the common eider.
however, He is concerned for the breeding season that is starting soon. Have the birds little fat reserves it can lead to a very poor season.
– It requires a lot of energy for the birds to add all the eggs. So they should be quiet and incubate for several weeks.

https://strangesounds.org/2020/03/israel-bats-fall-dead-from-sky-pi...

Swarms of Bats Dropping Dead From The Sky Across Israel Are New Signs Of The End Times

Mar 31 2020

Swarms of dead bats with no physical signs of trauma are spotted across Israel, raising questions and fears about the end-of-days omen.
The recent mysterious deaths of the nocturnal creatures could have come as a punishment for the onset of global disease or as a sign of something even more dreadful

The photos of the dead creatures lying in Gan Leumi Park in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan were first shared by Adi Moskowitz on Facebook, who asked for an explanation to the mysterious phenomenon.
Similar photos and videos were published by some other users in neighboring cities.

Could this mass die-off be linked to the death plague among bats or even to a biblical prophecy about the end of humanity as it is.
“I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea. I will make the wicked stumble, And I will destroy mankind From the face of the earth —declares Hashem,” says Zephaniah 1:3.

Several social media users and experts have suggested that the reason for the happening could have either been unusually cold weekends, or recently installed 5G technologies nearby, but these theories have remained unconfirmed.

https://www.nvi.com.au/story/6707070/more-than-50-birds-dead-or-inj...

April 1 2020 - 1:00PM
Manilla bird kill: more than 50 Corellas dead or injured in mass poisoning at Manilla, near Tamworth

MORE than 50 birds have been poisoned at Manilla with authorities launching an investigation into the mass bird kill, which they believe was "deliberate".
More than 50 Corellas were found dead or seriously injured in the town earlier this week.

The birds were discovered in Strafford Street, on the north-eastern side of Manilla, and round the Viaduct Bridge.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has launched an investigation after it was notified on Tuesday by a local wildlife carer.

EPA Manager Regional Operations North Branch Lindsay Fulloon said the EPA is appealing for information on the "apparent mass poisoning of native birds".
"This appears to be a large scale targeting of the birds and we are concerned that it could have been deliberate," he said.
"We are getting some of the birds tested to determine the cause of death, but we are also reaching out to the public for any information they may have about this tragic incident."
Investigators will visit the area but have asked locals to stay away from the site because it could be dangerous.
Mr Fulloon said poisoned, dying or dead birds may pose a risk to anyone handling them and to wildlife which may consume them.
"Anyone handling the birds should wear personal protective equipment including heavy duty rubber gloves," he said.
Anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the area or with information on the poisoning is urged to contact the EPA as soon as possible.

https://unravelmalta.com/rome-hundreds-of-dead-birds-found/

Rome: hundreds of dead birds found

April 4 2020

A rather unusual and disturbing event occurred in Rome yesterday in the afternoon. (On the 2nd of April 2020)
Hundreds of birds, some dying, others dead were found lying on the ground covered the road. An alert was given to competent bodies to recover the animals still alive.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/10/high-winds-kill...

High winds kill thousands of migrating birds in 'disaster' over Greece
Swallows and swifts on their annual flight from Africa to Europe have been found dead across Greece

Thu 9 Apr 2020 19.55 EDT

A common swift in flight. Flocks of the migratory birds have been hit hard by bad weather over Greece in the past week.

Thousands of swallows and swifts migrating from Africa to Europe have been left dead by high winds battering Greece, bird watchers say.
The birds have been found in the streets of Athens, on apartment balconies in the capital, in the north, on Aegean islands and around a lake close to the seaport of Nauplia in the Peloponnese.
“It’s a major disaster,” Maria Ganoti of the wildlife protection group Anima told AFP on Thursday.

“Over the last three days because of high winds in the north and over the Aegean Sea, thousands of small birds have been found dead or gravely injured,” she said.
The Greek ornithologist association said: “The night of April 5-6 was disastrous for migrating birds due to strong winds, low temperatures and rain in some regions.
“Southerly winds pushed flocks of birds from north Africa into air currents from the north of the Aegean sea and particularly the islands.
“To escape, exhausted birds, mainly swallows and swifts, which catch flying insects for food, headed for the Greek mainland.”
The association urged people to take care in the street, where exhausted birds often land after covering thousands of kilometres.
Greece is on the flight path for hundreds of thousands of birds which migrate north in spring and south in autumn.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/hundreds-of-dead-seals-w...

Hundreds of dead seals washing ashore in Nova Scotia

CBC News · Posted: Apr 12, 2020 10:04 AM AT

Hundreds of dead seals have washed up on shores in Cape Breton and near Halifax in recent days, prompting an investigation by the Marine Animal Response Society.
Andrew Reid, the society's response co-ordinator, said it has received a number of reports over the last week about juvenile seal carcasses washing ashore in Cape Breton and Sambro, N.S., just outside Halifax.

Reid said there are believed to be several hundred dead seals in total, including roughly 70 in the Sambro area.
Eleven washed up on Geoffrey Howard's family property in West Pennant, just outside of Sambro. He said he went out to look after hearing his neighbour counted 27 along the shoreline on his property.
Most of the seals were within about 10 metres of each other. He said the sight was "mysterious."
"What natural occurrence could have caused so many seals to wash up at once? It wasn't so much fear, it was more curiosity," he said.
Reid said they are quite decomposed, but it does appear they are harp seals.
"These would have been born further north, so it's likely they're washing in from up north," said Reid, adding that it's unclear how long the seals have been dead.
The flesh from the head and upper torso has been removed from many of the seals, but the skull is still attached or sometimes found nearby.
Necropsies will be conducted to try to determine the cause of death.
Carcasses are being frozen, as the work can not be performed at this time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Reid said there are a few theories as to what happened to the seals.
"This does happen occasionally, depending on the year," he said.
Reid said pack ice, where the seals are born, could have shifted and crushed the young seals.
It's also possible other animals such as Greenland sharks or grey seals could have preyed upon them.
He said it doesn't appear the seals were killed as part of a seal hunt, as their skulls are intact and have not been crushed.
"Those are all things we would look for signs of in a necropsy and then rule each one out and hopefully be left with the right answer," said Reid.
Reid said the society is interested in collecting more carcasses. He encouraged anyone who finds a seal carcass to call the organization and send photos.

https://strangesounds.org/2020/04/birds-dead-cruise-ship-video-sky....

Hundreds of birds were discovered dead on a cruise ship open deck by the crew on April 24, 2020.

An anonymous witness says it appears the birds had dropped down dead from the sky.

Apr 28, 2020

This is the first time I hear about such a bird mass die-off! On a cruise ship! Can you imagine that?

And I am not the only one. The crew said it is the first time they witness such a phenomenon on a ship.
One crew member explains, there were many birds flying around the ship the night before: “It was a beautiful night and we couldn’t believe our eyes when we woke up this morning and see so many dead birds all around the ship’s open deck.”

Another crew member continues: “We woke up with announcements asking to not go to the open decks, to not touch the birds, and to stop feeding them.
“I thought that the poor birds were alive. I love animals and I didn’t want to see them and couldn’t help in anything. I still can’t stop crying and nobody can give any reasonable explanations.”

Meanwhile, officials have no ideas about how the birds died.

and another:

https://strangesounds.org/2020/04/mysterious-illness-blue-tits-bird...

Animal Mass Die-Off
Mysterious Pneumonia Illness Has Killed Thousands of Birds in Germany in Last Two Weeks And Scientists Try To Understand Where It’s Coming From
Apr 24, 2020

There is a new mystery bird illness being investigated in Germany

After more than 11,000 German blue tits were found dead or sick overnight

Thousands of blue tits have been found sick or dead in Germany, prompting an investigation by conservation groups and scientists.

and another:

https://strangesounds.org/2020/04/birds-fall-dead-from-sky-europe-v...

Is EMF Radiation to Blame for the Bird Deaths Exploding Across the World?
Apr 19, 2020

200 ducks in Denmark, hundreds of herons in Turkey, thousands of swallows and swifts in Greece, 1000 starlings in Rome…
Birds literally fall dead from the sky, and nobody knows why.

and another:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/10/high-winds-kill...

Thousands of dead swallows and swifts in Greece

Scientists believe high winds over the last three days have killed or gravely injured thousands of swallows and swifts, migrating from Africa to Europe.
The carcasses have been found in the streets of Athens, on apartment balconies in the capital, on Aegean islands and around a lake close to the seaport of Nauplia in the Peloponnese. Here a video of the living birds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY06oEmJDg4&feature=emb_logo

The situation has been described as a major disaster.
High wind, really?

and another:

Hundreds of dead herons in Turkey
The dead birds were found near the village of Köprışık.
Residents and officials are scared as nobody really knows what’s behind the massive die-off.

and more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSbeNCz-hfo&feature=emb_logo

200 dead ducks in Denmark
About 200 dead ducks have been found along the beaches on Læsø, Denmark and everybody is wondering if they died of bird flu. This is completely unheard of on the island.
Four of the dead ducks have been tested for avian influenza, but all tested negative.
So what’s behind this new mass die-off in Denmark? [TV2 Nord]
1000 dead birds in the streets of Rome
On February 5, 2020, hundreds of dead birds covered parts of Viale del Policlinico.

https://strangesounds.org/2020/04/thousands-fish-beach-acapulco-mex...

Mother Nature is just terrible with us this year!

Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

Thousands of fish wash up on beach in Acapulco, Mexico. Picture via Youtube video

It is just terrifying what’s happening to our ecosystems worldwide. The environmental collapse is on its way and will hit with an unprecedented power.

While Africa suffers enormous swarms of locusts and Europe mysterious bird mass die-offs, another impressive animal kill occurred in Mexico in the last few days.

As shown in the video below, thousands of fish have washed up alive on a beach in Acapulco, prompting crowds of local residents and fishermen to collect the fish and thus violate the Mexican lockdown in place. In the same footage you can also watch images from a similar incident in Choroní, Aragua, Venezuela.

Although many locals say this beaching is due to the absence of fishermen due to the lockdown, officials believe the fish approached the shore while hunting for sardines.

Mass stranding are increasing

While, fish mass stranding of fish is not uncommon, the number of these incidents has risen in the last few years.

Scientists still cannot say for sure what causes this unusual behaviour.

Theories range from underwater seismic activity, lingering effects of oil spills, and exposure to sonar, to extreme weather factors.

The recent incident comes a week after a red tide and its bioluminescent planktons turned the water glowing blue from California to Mexico.

It is known that red tides are associated with wildlife mortalities and harmful human exposure, as they release toxins. Is there a link there?

Meanwhile in Scotland, thousands of seabirds are washing up dead or very weak. Is this all connected?

https://www.deccanherald.com/state/top-karnataka-stories/scores-of-...

Scores of fish found dead in River Phalguni

May 02 2020, 20:12 istupdated: May 02 2020, 20:15 ist

Hundreds of fish were found floating dead in River Phalguni at Dadelu in Nadthikallu, near Venoor, triggering an alarm that water had been poisoned.

As the fish had died, the entire area reeked of a nauseating smell.Hundreds of cattle drink water from the water body to quench their thirst. The residents fear spread of diseases from the rotting fish. They said animals and birds that drink from the rotting fish. 

They said animals and birds that drink from the river will die if the water is poisoned.

The incident came to light when dead fish started to float on the river bank, a day ago. Police must initiate action against all those who are responsible, villagers urged.

https://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/6746652/mystery-surrounds-...

May 5 2020 - 5:00PM
Nhill Lake corellas found dead after suspected poisoning

THE sudden death of 100 corellas at Nhill Lake has been referred to state authorities.
The lake's committee of management contacted the Environment Protection Authority and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning after it suspected the birds were poisoned last week.

The cause of the birds' deaths remains unknown.
The committee now hopes the lake's walking track can reopen this week, after it was closed due to the deaths.

President Stuart Bone said he became aware of dead and dying birds at the site on Monday last week.
The committee suspected the birds might have been poisoned. But Mr Bone said a search for a cause had not revealed any clues.
The committee closed the lake's walking track as a safety measure while it investigated the deaths.
It also contacted the Environment Protection Authority and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning about the suspected poisoning.
The department's Grampians regional manager for the Conservation Regulator Brian Hamer said it was an offence to use poisons to kill, destroy or take wildlife.
"The Conservation Regulator is aware of the corella deaths around Nhill Lake and has retrieved a small number of birds in order to investigate possible cause of death," he said.
"Severe penalties (including imprisonment and fines) apply to those found guilty of an offence under the Wildlife Act."

Mr Bone said a volunteer team recovered about 100 carcasses from the lake area at the weekend.
"We don't want dead birds at all, and we don't want them decaying in the water," he said.
No more dead corellas have been discovered for three or four days.
Mr Bone said the deaths could have an innocent explanation. He said the birds usually liked to leave the lake during the day and return at night.
"It might have coincided with farmers putting out mouse bait," he said.
He said spilled pickled grain could also be responsible: "I've heard of birds, and corellas in particular, they eat pickled grain and it can actually kill them as well."
Mr Bone said as far as the committee could tell, there was no continuing threat. He hoped the walking track would reopen this week.
Mr Bone said people had reacted with disappointment and confusion to the deaths

and another:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/animals-birds-f...

Animals & birds found dead in unexplained circumstances in Ooty

May 7 2020

https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/maharashtra-25...

Maharashtra: 250 sparrows found dead in Chandrapur garden after rain

Over 250 sparrows were found dead in a garden in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district in the early hours of Sunday following heavy rain and thunder, said officials

The garden in Neri village in Chimur tehsil belongs to Zilla Parishad member Manoj Mamidwar, an official said."These birds have been coming to my garden for years now and I have placed water pots all over for them. On Sunday morning, after the rain, ...

https://au.news.yahoo.com/riverina-community-furious-after-thousand...

'Absolutely putrid': Community furious after thousands of dead fish found

Australia 25 May 2020

A major fish kill in NSW's Riverina region has caused huge uproar in the community with calls for more government support.
Thousands of dead fish found on the shore of Lake Wyangan northwest of Griffith were reported by locals on Saturday. They included the murray cod, yellow belly perch and bony bream.
NSW Murray MP Helen Dalton visited the lake on Monday and found it to be "absolutely putrid, dark in colour, full of foam and sludge with dead native fish floating up on the shore".
Footage which Ms Dalton shared on Facebook showed fish of various sizes lying dead along the shore.
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP compared the situation with that of the Menindee fish kill where an estimated one million fish died in January 2019.

"Over this past year, I've written urgent letters to NSW government departments urging action on Lake Wyangan and they've done nothing," Ms Dalton said.
"We have about 20 government departments that are supposed to look after our waterways but none of them seem to give a damn about water quality."
Griffith City Council said on Monday the incident was reported immediately to the NSW Environmental Protection Agency and NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Council general manager Brett Stonestreet said in a statement water samples along with samples from each fish species had been sent away for testing and that it was too soon to speculate on what caused the fish kill.
Griffith Mayor John Dal Broi said the council is working to control sediment inflow and improve water quality at the lake through the construction of a series of sedimentation ponds and wetlands while also trying to discourage the growth of blue-green algae through circulation of the water.

and another:

https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/scores-of-dead-fish-foun...

Scores of dead fish found along Boisar coast as lockdown restrictions on industries ease

A zoologist has attributed to the deaths due to heavy pollution of discharge of effluents from the several chemical units lining the Navapur coast
Mumbai Updated: May 24, 2020 20:09 IST

Scores of dead Indian mullet fish were found dead along the Navapur coast in Boisar MIDC area since the ease of lockdown norms in the past few days.
A zoologist has attributed to the deaths due to heavy pollution of discharge of effluents from the several chemical units lining the Navapur coast. Prior to the lockdown, no such incidents were reported.
“The dead fish belongs to a local variety which is consumed by the locals. The incident was reported in Dandi-Navapur area in Boisar,” said Prof Bhushan Bhoir, zoologist, Sonopant Dandekar College, Palghar.
“It seems the untreated effluents from the chemical units were discharged directly into the Navapur creek, leading to the deaths,” said Bhoir.

Even the colour of the water has changed from brown to reddish since Friday evening, he said.
Kundan Dhawne, member, Akhil Bharatiya Mangela Samaj Parishad has complained to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Tarapur to initiate action against the guilty chemical owners who discharged the effluents into the creek.
Earlier during the lockdown period, the colour of the water was near clear and small fish which we could not see since the past decade started to swim around, said Dhawne. Within a span of just eight days since the restrictions on industries were lifted, the fish deaths have been reported, he said.

Bhoir said, earlier the dissolved oxygen content (DO) in the Navapur Dandi creek was 4.5mg/litre while the same DO at Satpati was 7.2 mg/litre and Vadrai creek was 6.081 mg/litre.
On the day when the fish deaths occurred, the DO was a mere 1.2 mg/lt. A minimum of 3.5 mg/lt oxygen is required in water for the marine species to survive, said Bhoir.
Now with the industry resuming, the effluents are discharged into the creek. Because of this, the oxygen dissolved in water reacted with the chemicals. As a result, hypoxic conditions were created in the creek killing several small and young fish during the low tide. All adult fish travelled deep into the Arabian Sea and small fish suffered from hypoxia and died, said Bhoir.

Manish Holkar, deputy regional officer, MPCB, Tarapur said, “We are aware of the fish deaths in Navapur-Dandi creek and we have collected the water as well as fish samples to ascertain the exact cause behind the deaths. We are waiting for the lab results and if the chemical units are found guilty, we will take punitive action against them, including issuing closure notices and disconnecting water and power supply to the errant units,” said Holkar.

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/massive-fish-die-off-his-ohio-shores...

Massive Fish Die-Off Hits Ohio Shores of Lake Erie

Thousands of fish have started washing up in Lake Erie
We can all agree that 2020 has been a stressful and bizarre year. Some Ohio residents just starting to return to the beaches on Lake Erie as things slowly open back up from the coronavirus pandemic found an ominous-looking sight among the sand and surf.
Dead fish. Thousands of them. Fox 8 News out of Cleveland reports the fish first started to wash ashore last week near Toledo and now are being found near Vermilion too. Aside from being disgusting and smelly, the sight had some residents worried something was amiss and the reports starting flooding into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Fortunately, after a little investigation, they realized the only fish being affected were freshwater drum, aka: "Sheepshead." Because the problem is species-specific and it is too early in the summer for destructive algae blooms, the fish are dying because of natural conditions and the ODNR says this is just the nature of the species. ODNR spokeswoman Jamey Emmert told Fox 8 News that as unpleasant as the die-off is, many scavenging species will benefit from the extra meals as a result.

"Every spring we experience a pretty massive fish kill, but it's nothing to concern Ohioans about because this is pretty typical stuff," Emmert told the station.
The wild, fluctuating weather this spring made conditions tough for the drum, which are already sensitive to temperature change. Combine that with the stress of spawning season and it was a perfect recipe for a natural fish die-off.
"It got really warm and then it got really cold and it got really warm again," Emmert told the station. "And it's stressful for us, but typically humans can hack it even if we get pretty frustrated by it."
Considering the crazy news cycle of unbelievable headlines this year, we cannot blame Ohio residents for being concerned when they see more fish than normal dead on the shores. It makes for an ominous picture. Thankfully, it is simply a sign that nature is working as she normally should.

Rare deep-sea fish washes up on NSW beach

https://www.9news.com.au/national/rare-deep-ocean-fish-washes-up-on...

A rare deep-sea fish, measuring over a metre long, has washed up on the NSW south coast.

The mystery fish with a flat head was found near Murrays Beach Boat Ramp in Jervis Bay by Wreck Bay Council workers on Wednesday. Stumped at the find they took the species to Booderee National Park's main office for identification.

The species, identified as a crested bandfish, has only 30 occurrence records listed on the Atlas of Living Australia and is rarely photographed.

The long fish has a flat head and bulbous eyes so it can see in the dark waters of the deep ocean. ( Parks Australia / Dion Maple)

The species is thought to feed on squids. It has an ink sac for defence and large eyes to help it see in the dark of the deep ocean.

Park staff do not know how the fish found its way to Jervis Bay but are excited about the find nonetheless.

"What a find," they wrote in a Facebook post yesterday.

"It's so rare the image on Wikipedia is just a drawing."

They added that their photos have now been uploaded to Fishes of Australia .

Glasses placed next to the deep-sea fish give an indication of its size. (Parks Australia / Dion Maple)

The crested bandfish is not the only deep-sea creature to wash up this week.

On Sunday a woman and her husband stumbled upon the remains of a giant squid on a beach in South Africa.

The dead sea creature weighed more than 300kg and spanned four metres.

The dead giant squid was washed up on Golden Mile Beach in Brittania Bay, near Cape Town in South Africa. (Photo: Adéle Grosse © Iziko Museums of South Africa) (Supplied)

"Oh my word, seeing it at first really took my breath away," Adele Grosse told Live Science.

"Honestly, it looked like a majestic prehistoric animal."

=============================================================

Rare deep-sea unicornfish pops up in fishing net off Imizu

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13437593

UOZU, Toyama Prefecture--When Taku Suganuma hauled up his fixed fishing net off the coast of Imizu, he made a catch of the day that he had never seen before.

The strange fish had a unique face with a protruding head, rippling its dorsal fin and shaking its 1-meter-long silver body.

Suganuma, 24, caught the fish on the Shintokumaru fishing boat, which sails out of Imizu, in the early hours of May 15, when the firefly squid fishing season was coming to an end.

At first, he thought it was a lowsail ribbonfish, which is often caught in nets during this season. However, a younger colleague knowledgeable about fish species said it might be a deep-sea North Pacific crestfish, aka unicornfish.

Suganuma decided to give the fish to the Uozu Aquarium because of its rarity.

According to records kept by the aquarium, a North Pacific crestfish hadn't been spotted in Toyama Prefecture for more than 30 years since one was found washed up at the mouth of the Katakaigawa river in Uozu in 1988. However, eight of the unicornfish either were caught or were snared in nets between February and April last year.

The North Pacific crestfish is characterized by a red dorsal fin and releases black ink from its anus in response when it senses danger.

It is believed that the fish lives in the intermediate layer at depths between 200 and 1,000 meters offshore, but details about its life remain unknown because it is rarely caught.

Specimens usually quickly die due to differences in the water temperature and other factors when brought to the surface. Only one of the eight fish taken to the aquarium remained alive for about an hour.

It released a large amount of ink several times as it swam around in a large tank containing 16 tons of seawater, instantly limiting visibility to only 10 centimeters ahead.

Tomoharu Kimura, a breeder and researcher at the aquarium, said that the white flesh of the fish is crunchy like flounder when served as sashimi, while it tastes bland and plain.

A close look at the contents of its stomach provided hints of the North Pacific crestfish's life and ecosystem, as well as a threat to marine life: plastic waste.

A North Pacific crestfish hauled onto a fishing boat in Toyama Bay off the coast of Imizu, Toyama Prefecture, on May 15

https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/2020/06/25/rain-blamed-dead-...

Rain blamed for dead fish in the Concho River in downtown San Angelo

San Angelo Standard-Times Published 10:27 a.m. CT June 25, 2020

SAN ANGELO — Thousands of fish were found dead by people walking along the Concho River on Thursday morning.
The Inland Fisheries San Angelo District - Texas Parks and Wildlife posted this explanation on its Facebook page:
"We are aware that a fish kill, due to oxygen depletion, is occurring on the Concho River in downtown San Angelo. This is resulting from the heavy rain we had few evenings ago. When we have several weeks of hot/dry weather followed by a heavy rain, organic material and stagnant water in the river gets stirred up into the water column and the process of decay uses up the oxygen in the water.

Boat crews with the city of San Angelo set out on the Concho River to collect thousands of dead fish Thursday, June 25, 2020. (Photo: Colin Murphey / San Angelo Standard-Times)

We have seen this scenario happen most every summer on the Concho River. Since larger fish have a higher oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen crashes tend to impact larger fish over smaller fish. As the decay process slows, oxygen levels should begin to rebound.
We measure oxygen in parts per million (PPM) and around 11:30 today dissolved oxygen levels were under 2 ppm near the crossing near the high school. Dissolved oxygen was slightly better, but still poor, at the Oakes Street section at 2.3-2.8 ppm. We'll check oxygen levels again prior to our scheduled catfish stocking on Friday."
Thousands of dead fish float on the surface of the Concho River in downtown San Angelo on Thursday, June 25, 2020. 

and another:

https://www.northaugustastar.com/news/savannah-riverkeeper-asking-f...

Savannah Riverkeeper asking for help to solve fish kill

Jun 25 2020

The Savannah Riverkeeper is asking for help from the public to identify the source of a fish kill in the river.
The organization is asking for fishermen, boaters and scientists to help.
“When you are out fishing, boating or walking along the river and catch or see dead/dying fish with sores, please let us know,” an email from the organization states.

The organization would like to collect dying fish, and ask that if someone catches a fish with sores on it, put it on ice and contact them so the fish can be collected.
The group also wants folks to take a close-up photo and record the GPS location and time of when each dead or dying fish is discovered.
Tonya Bonitatibus, the Savannah Riverkeeper, posted a video to Facebook on Tuesday, showing an eel and gar that had been found dead.

She said the running theory is that something has put a stressor in the river.
“The bacteria — a lot of them have sores — so the bacteria is being allowed to take over somehow. We are collecting water samples, having those analyzed, we are working with South Carolina and Georgia (Department of Natural Resources) to try and get them to be able to put the resources forward to help us figure out what’s going on.”
Bonitatibus said in the video to also let them know about any dead alligators, turtles or birds.
The organization’s website includes a map of where dead fish have been found, and has a submission form where people can send information.
Any microbiologists, chemists and ichthyologists interested in assisting the search for answers can contact mary@savannahriverkeeper.org.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7084080/missisquoi-bay-dead-fish/

Mysterious mass fish die-off observed in Missisquoi Bay

Posted June 19, 2020 7:31 am

Observers have been alarmed in recent days by hundreds of dead fish washing up on the shores of Missisquoi Bay in the Eastern Townships, near Quebec’s border with Vermont.

Frédéric Chouinard of the Organisme de bassin de versant de la baie Missisquoi (OBVBM) said several lifeless fish have been spotted every metre along the bay’s shore in the towns of Venise-en-Québec and Philipsburg, on the bay’s northern and eastern sides, respectively.

Chouinard noted that a variety of fish, including carp and pike, have been among those found dead on the beach, as have several birds.

It’s still unknown what’s causing the mass mortality event, or how long it’s been going on beneath the water’s surface, but Chouinard speculated that strong winds from the south are likely why the fish have been washing ashore in the two areas they’ve been sighted.

Two major episodes of mass fish mortality have been noted by the OBVBM in recent years. One, in 2005, was determined by Quebec’s environment ministry to be caused by the bacterium flexibacteriosis during a heat wave. The second was in 2012 and linked to cyanobacteria.

A third die-off involving only alewife was also observed in winter 2013.

The OBVBM has noted that human activity has accelerated the degradation of the Missisquoi Bay, in part by contributing nutrients that allow the development of cyanobacterium harmful to the local ecosystem and nearby humans alike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6YOhkKPKIk&feature=share&f...

https://www.rlsmedia.com/article/hundreds-dead-fish-found-floating-...

Hundreds of Dead Fish Found Floating in Hudson River in Bergen County 

Jul 1 2020 - 5:06pm.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was called to the scene to assist in the investigation of a large number of fish found dead in the Hudson River in Bergen County today.
According to preliminary reports, at approximately 4:30 p.m., residents at 100 Tower Drive in Edgewater contacted police after observing nearly 400 dead fish floating in the river.
Several Bergen County police departments also received calls complaining of dead fish from the Ross Dock Picnic Area, Palisades Interstate Park, and residents in Fort Lee.

The incident is in its early stages of the investigation and officials have not released further details at this time.

Hundreds of elephants found dead in Botswana

Mystery surrounds the "completely unprecedented" deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana over the last two months.

Dr Niall McCann said colleagues in the southern African country had spotted more than 350 elephant carcasses in the Okavango Delta since the start of May.

No one knows why the animals are dying, with lab results on samples still weeks away, according to the government.

Botswana is home to a third of Africa's declining elephant population.

Warning: Some people may find the following images upsetting

Dr McCann, of the UK-based charity National Park Rescue, told the BBC local conservationists first alerted the government in early May, after they undertook a flight over the delta.

"They spotted 169 in a three-hour flight," he said. "To be able to see and count that many in a three-hour flight was extraordinary.

"A month later, further investigations identified many more carcasses, bringing the total to over 350."

"This is totally unprecedented in terms of numbers of elephants dying in a single event unrelated to drought," he added.

Back in May, Botswana's government ruled out poaching as a reason - noting the tusks had not been removed, according to Phys.org.

Read more :  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53257512