The
fish-eating guillemots have been washing up on beaches in the Netherlands
However
the sudden bird deaths have not been reported in Belgium or Germany
Scientists
are planning a mass autopsy in an effort to shed light on the mystery
By AFP
PUBLISHED: 15:20,
6 February 2019 | UPDATED: 15:46, 6 February 2019
Dutch
scientists have been left baffled after 20,000 dead or dying seabirds washed up
on North Sea beaches in a phenomenon not seen for decades.
The
fish-eating guillemots have been washing up between the northern Wadden Islands
and southwestern Zeeland - all showing symptoms of severe starvation, a marine
biologist said.
However
the bird deaths are confined only to Dutch shores, with nothing reported in
Belgium or Germany.
Scientists
are now planning a mass autopsy of hundreds of dead birds next week, hoping to
shed more light on the mystery.
'What's
killing them is the million-dollar question,' Mardik Leopold, a maritime
researcher for Wageningen University, told AFP.
'And we
still don't know what the answer is. It's an alarming situation,' he added.
'The last
time we saw high mortality rates like this was in the 1980s and 1990s.'
High
winds and stormy winter seas also could affect the birds' feeding patterns on
herring and sprat as they become too fatigued to eat, Leopold said.
'But
again, why are the deaths only localised to the Netherlands? Surely we're not
the only place experiencing winter weather?' said Leopold.
Dutch
media have raised the question of whether the deaths may be linked to a recent
container spill, littering the Dutch and German coast lines with debris,
including plastic toys, polystyrene, shoes and at least one bag with a dangerous
powder identified by authorities as 'organic peroxide.'
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