As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 25 September 2016

Birds turning up dead on Gulf Coast beaches




Posted: September 13, 2016 - 11:53pm  |  Updated: September 14, 2016 - 12:05am

 
ST. PETE BEACH — Dozens of juvenile seabirds called black skimmers have been found dead along Gulf Coast beaches over the past six weeks, and experts say the deaths could be linked to pollution.

The Tampa Bay Times reports volunteers who have been monitoring the die-off suspect the dumping of more than 1 million gallons of municipal sewage into Boca Ciega Bay in Pinellas County has something to do with it. Forty-six birds have been found dead.

Heavy rains in August prompted a number of Pinellas County cities to dump sewage into area waterways.

Experts say the cause of death could be salmonella, a virus or even red tide. Each of those potential causes could be related to the dumping of sewage.

Gulfport dumped 302,400 gallons into Boca Ciega Bay on Aug. 8.

Hurricane Hermine exacerbated the problem when its rains lashed the Florida peninsula earlier this month. An additional 892,500 gallons spilled Sept. 2, according to Gulfport public works director Don Sopak. That’s when the storm made landfall in North Florida.

The sewage issue could worsen as the region grapples with the amount of waste that was spilled onto streets and waterways. St. Petersburg officials on Monday estimated that the city dumped about 70 million gallons of sewage into the waters of Tampa Bay. That brings the official total that local cities and counties dumped to 135.1 million gallons — a number that continues to rise.


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