Hundreds, maybe thousands of dead Snow Geese found washed up in Cambridge Bay, Canada

Carcasses of dead snow geese are seen on the shoreline, near the Nunavut community of Cambridge Bay. A resident said the birds dotted the shoreline for at least 20 kilometres. (Government of Nunavut/Department of Environment)

Hundreds of dead snow geese have washed up on the shores near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and it may be some time before officials figure out what caused them.

 

The geese washed up near Long Point, west of the Nunavut community. David Ohokannoak, who lives in Cambridge Bay, drove by the carcasses on Sunday evening on his ATV.

 

“It was just dead geese for about, maybe 20 kilometres of shoreline,” he said. “There had to be over a thousand…there was too many to even count.

 

“It’s a long drive, so you can see them for that whole drive, you just see nothing but geese. Kind of sad to see.”

 

Ohokannoak said most of the carcasses were washed up right on the shore, while a couple were located further away from the coast.

 

Snow geese migrate to the Arctic in massive numbers each summer. In past years, they have been known to devastate large areas, travelling in the millions.

 

An official with the Government of Nunavut directed CBC to Environment and Climate Change Canada, saying because the birds are migratory, they’re the responsibility of the federal government.

 

In an email to CBC, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada said only that the department is “aware of the situation,” and that officials are “following up on the incident and will consider next steps,” working with the Government of Nunavut. The official did not provide any information about what the follow up entails or what the next steps would be.

Courtesy of cbc.ca

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