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Oil-covered dead sea birds found on Chesil Beach
Dead sea birds covered in oil have been found washed up on Dorset's Jurassic Coast.
About half a dozen birds, including fulmars, gannets and guillemots, were discovered along Chesil Beach, near Portland. The Environment Agency said it was not investigating the incident but said it was likely that a ship had dumped its engine oil at sea.
The birds were discovered by wildlife photographer Steve Trewhella. Mr Trewhella said: "It's possible this oil was dumped at sea - it happens a lot. "The south west winds will have blown it in with litter and other debris. The birds are all ones that feed on the water, such as gannets, fulmars and guillemots.
BBC - www.bbc.co.uk
19 Jul 2011
Location: Chesil Beach, England, United Kingdom - Map It
>>> FULL ARTICLE
19 Jul 2011
Location: Chesil Beach, England, United Kingdom - Map It
>>> FULL ARTICLE
Virus may be causing pipi decline
The cause of the declining pipi population on east coast beaches is still unknown but could be caused by a rare virus or algae, a meeting at Port Stephens was told.
Local fisherman Denis Magnay, who attended the meeting, said the theory was that the virus or algae clogs the inlet valve of the baby pipi, but the mature pipi – with its larger valves – can cope with the problem.
“A general observation of stakeholders (who attended the meeting) is that it has been the baby pipis which have been dying in their millions all along the coastline,” Mr Magnay said. “Continual rough ocean conditions also play a part in the breeding cycle. The spawn has to be settled for a reasonable time before it can grow. The east coast current sometimes bypasses some of the pocket beaches and therefore they still have reasonable amounts of pipis.”
However, these pocket beaches are rare in NSW, and reports indicate the North Coast beaches are among the worst affected.
Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center UpdatedUSGS and a network of partners across the country work on documenting wildlife mortality events in order to provide timely and accurate information on locations, species and causes of death.
This information was updated on Jul 19, 2011 on the USGS National Wildlife Health Center web page, New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide.
Quarterly Mortality Reports are also available from this page. These reports go back to 1995.
USGS National Wildlife Health Center
20 Jul 2011
Area: United States
>>>Updated Wildlife Mortality Event Table
20 Jul 2011
Area: United States
>>>Updated Wildlife Mortality Event Table
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