US - ​Seabirds washing up and dying on Cape Cod beaches

[Pathfinder]

Seabirds washing up and dying on Cape Cod beaches

By Doug Fraser
Posted Jun 6, 2017 at 8:50 PM
Updated Jun 6, 2017 at 8:50 PM

EASTHAM ? They started washing ashore in April.
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The Cape Wildlife Center is affiliated with New England Wildlife Center and the regional facility has been reporting sick and dying gannets washing onto beaches in Duxbury, Hingham and Cohasset, covering 60 to 70 miles of coastline, Mertz said.

But the bulk of affected animals have come ashore on the Atlantic side of the Outer Cape towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet and Eastham, Mertz and Ellis said.

U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife technician Ryan Bevilacqua said his agency sent tissue, blood and other samples taken from dead birds to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia veterinary medicine program. Analysis has ruled out avian flu, Bevilacqua said. He estimated as many as 100 northern gannets have been affected. That?s not going to impact the population which is believed to be stable at nearly 130,000 individuals.
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http://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20170606/seabirds-washing-up-and-dying-on-cape-cod-beaches

[Pathfinder]

South Shore wildlife experts seek answers in bird die-off

By Jessica Trufant
The Patriot Ledger
Posted at 12:01 AM
Updated at 8:57 AM

WEYMOUTH ? ,,,
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Dead birds have been reported as far north as Maine.
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Mertz said the sick gannets treated by staff from the New England Wildlife and Cape Wildlife centers all have had diarrhea and bird lice, which can spread viral or bacterial diseases.

?We don?t know yet if (the bird lice) is causative or secondary,? he said. ?We?re wondering if the mites are vectoring in the illness.?

The sick birds found still alive are taken to the wildlife centers in Weymouth and Barnstable or Wild Care Inc., a wildlife rehabilitation hospital in Eastham that Mertz and his team visit. When the birds are deloused and given fluids and antibiotics, Mertz said they ?rally and try to hang on,? but not for long. He said they have all died within 72 hours of arriving at the hospital.

Another theory is that harmful algae from an unreported cause of red tide sickened the fish-eating birds, Mertz said, but blood work isn?t showing anything definitive.
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Mertz said the problem with a die-off is that so much is unknown.

" It is just the 100 birds we?ve seen, or is it much more widespread? Is it something that will migrate to other species? And what are the causative agents? It takes a lot of detective work, and it?s hard to say what the causes or effects are going to be,? Mertz said. ?The more knowledge we have, the better we will understand, and the more we can intervene on their behalf.?
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http://marshfield.wickedlocal.com/news/20170612/south-shore-wildlife-experts-seek-answers-in-bird-die-off