Hundreds of dead and distressed birds are still being washed up on a beach in Dorset. Conservationists believe a deadly combination of storms and pollution are to blame.
“It’s a large population of birds that’s gone. It’s appalling and it seems to be no end to it.”
Conservationist Derek Davey is one of a number of volunteers helping clear up litter washed on to Chesil Beach by the recent storms.
Among the litter is a grimmer debris – the carcasses of hundreds of dead birds.
They include razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes, puffins and auks. Mr Davey said he thought thousands could have died in total.
“There are still birds out there coming in and they’re going to die tonight,” he says.
Recent storms and pollution are thought to be the cause as some of the birds are covered in oil.
Lumps of what is thought to be palm or vegetable oil have also been found washed up along the beach.
It is thought that birds exhausted by the severe weather were struggling to feed, becoming weaker as a result. Any birds that became covered in oil would have also struggled as the substance impairs their waterproofing.
Dorset Wildlife Trust said some birds had been washed ashore alive but even those were found to be exhausted, weak and hungry.
“The whole beach is covered in these large lumps of what we believe to be either palm or vegetable oil,” said Steve Trewhella, a conservationist and photographer from Wareham.
“It’s a smelly rancid substance. I believe it’s a danger to dogs, it must undoubtedly be a danger to wildlife.”
He believes the oil was probably dumped somewhere in Lyme Bay.
“A majority of this litter is from the shipping and fishing industry. Some of it is from as far away as Newfoundland, Canada, but the majority of it is fairly local.
“There have been hundreds of birds washing up for a couple of weeks now – it’s exceptional numbers.
“These are birds that are quite far out to sea and are probably dying of exhaustion [due to the stormy weather].
“The problem is they are already under so much pressure from fishing, pollution, PIB oil and all these other pollutants.
“These natural occurrences just put unbearable pressure on things that are already in decline.”
Local volunteers have been clearing up rubbish and rescuing birds.
Mr Trewhella called on the government to help.
“It’s very depressing. This a world heritage site – it looks more like a landfill site.
“I feel like dragging local MPs and councillors down to this beach and saying: ‘Look, dead birds everywhere, pollution. This is something that needs to be tackled at government level’.”
The deaths follow the PIB [polyisobutene] incident last year, where more than 1,000 sea birds were found dead on the south coast, covered in a deadly sticky glue substance.
PIB – a lubricant used to improve the engine performance of ships – was found on seabirds, mainly guillemots, in two separate instances between January and May.
It was thought to have come from a ship washing out its tank at sea.
The incident led to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) reclassifying PIBs from 2014, meaning ships can now only wash their tanks and dispose of all PIB residues while in port.
Dorset Wildlife Trust urged anyone who finds dead or injured birds not to touch them and instead contact the Chesil Beach Centre or the RSPCA.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said it had also received reports of small amounts of substances washing up on the Isle of Wight and Littlehampton over the past two weeks.
A spokeswoman said: “With the recent storms in the Atlantic, substances far out to sea may have been churned up and brought ashore by the treacherous conditions.
“The MCA continues to monitor all sources of information on pollution at sea through shipping aviation and satellite surveillance.
“As, and when, we receive relevant information the MCA is ready to act to try to determine the source of that pollution.”
Bird flu has been detected in two poultry farms in Itahari of Sunsari district. After confirmation that the chickens in poultry farms run by Tika Bahadur Rai and Hari Bahadur Karki at Itahari -7 had contracted avian influenza (H5N1) virus, a rapid response team culled the fowls and destroyed the eggs.
According to the District Veterinary Office (DVO), a rapid response team led by veterinarian Indra Narayan Sah culled 1,552 chickens from the two farms on Thursday. The Team also destroyed 20 crates of eggs at Rai´s farm. Bird flu was confirmed in these two farms after around 300 chickens in Rai´s farm died mysteriously.
“I had invested over a million in the poultry farm. But the chickens started dying a few days ago. Within a week, all my chickens died,” said Rai. Dr Bodh Raj Parajuli, director at the Regional Veterinary Directorate at Biratnagar, said chickens as well as other birds in the radius of 500 meters from the farm would also be destroyed.
Parajuli also urged poultry farmers to immediately report to the authorities if their chickens demonstrate symptoms of depression, lack of appetite, and a marked increase in mortality.
Beni has lost 84,000 head of cattle, valued at $ 50 million as a result of floods and disease began to spread, according to a report given yesterday by the Federation of Ranchers Beni.
In a desperate call, cattle owners asked the government and private sectors to help expedite the move livestock to higher ground.
The first to respond to that call were farmers in Santa Cruz announced that sending more boats, propellers and forage Beni to take animals that are in the middle of the flooded fields.
LAND Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land, Victor Hugo Vasquez reported that so far has recorded a loss of 39 thousand hectares of crops and 44,000 head of cattle lost due to heavy rains in the country, especially in the department of Beni, according to the agency ANF.
The official suggested that private banks grant loans accessible to the productive sector. In addition, he stressed the urgency to activate an emergency plan that allows families to recover losses caused by floods in different parts of the country.
“In agricultural issue, nationally there has been an allocation of 39 thousand hectares. With regard to the livestock side, we have to date a loss of 44 thousand head of cattle. Course the largest producer of live cattle is Beni department, “Vasquez said in an interview with Radio Panamericana.
However, the president of the Federation of Livestock Beni (FEGABENI), Mario Hurtado, reported that cattle lost due to inclement weather exceed 84 thousand. He also indicated that lack of government support for the rescue of livestock in the Beni region.
“The data exceeded 84 thousand livestock deaths. I’ve Had help from the government, but is still missing. Missing boats to rescue livestock have asked helicopter fuel. Need a pier trucks we lack,” he urged Hurtado.
INDEMNIFICATION Deputy Rural Development and Land, Víctor Hugo Vásquez, reported yesterday that about 1,000 hectares of crops lost to rain effects will be compensated by the National Agricultural Insurance Institute (INSA).
On January 29, the Cabinet of Ministers issued Supreme Decree 1883 which provides for the transfer of Bs 24 million from the General Treasury of the Nation (TGN) to the INSA, in order to perform the compensation to farmers who lost their crops due rainfall.
Department of Marine and Fisheries Bantul, Yogyakarta, noting as many as 165 550 fish fry in the local area due to volcanic ash die pascahujan Kelud eruption.
“The data that goes into service until today (Wednesday), fish seed mortality due to volcanic ash fall as much as 165 550 tails, catfish and carp seed well,” said Head of Division (Head) Department of Marine Aquaculture and Fisheries (MMAF), Bantul, Hadi Subiyanto, Wednesday.
Due to the death of hundreds of thousands of fish seed, farmers groups who are victims of natural disasters suffered material losses estimated total of Rp 50 million.
He said there are five groups of people hatchery operations (UPR) is a victim of the disaster, ie each group in the District Jetis, Pundong, Srandakan, Pandak and Kercamatan Sewon.
“The death of these fish occurs only in seed catfish and carp were aged between one and three weeks. However, fish that are ready for consumption or over the age of two months can still survive,” he said.
Deaths due to fish seed is exposed to rain water ponds dense volcanic ash. These conditions make it difficult for fish to breathe and cause death.
To prevent more deaths, he said, it was suggested to the owner to replace the aquaculture pond water pond with clear water or adding water to reduce the concentration of water due to the ash.
A lot of different species of fish found dead in the creek Capiatá. Residents of the area claim that the situation creates unpleasant odors. The situation drew the attention of the authorities of the SEAM and the Municipality, so they announced that they will conduct an investigation to determine the cause.
Residents believe that somewhere is throwing some chemical to stream channel also receives sewage and garbage is full, informed Telefuturo.
The Capiatá creek is one of the many streams flowing into the lake Ypacara, which shows a high degree of pollution in recent years.
Hundreds of dead fish have appeared in Mallorca on the shores of Son Baulo.
Investigations have been started by the local council and environmental employees to find out where the fish may have come from and why.
Passers-by were surprised to see dozens of metres of shoreline covered in dead fish, most of which were only three or four centimetres long, although there were a few larger sea bass, weighing in at around two or three kilos.
There have been at least three similar incidents in the area in the past; one investigation found that they had died through lack of oxygen, another tracked the problem down to a nearby hotel with toxic waste on the premises.
In the recent case, no other animals appeared to suffer; so toxic waste is less likely to be the cause.
There is a patch of still water just before the river mouth where, at certain times of the year the levels drop and the water becomes stagnant. Neighbours have suggested that there may be less danger to the fish if the water could run year round into the sea to allow more oxygen to circulate in the water.
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