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.
