[Mike]

from bridget – ‘Hi All
According to these statements, it could be anything!
Idiots.
Bridget
“””appears to have some neurological root”””
“”hints at a neurological problem, which might be related to an
algae bloom offshore””
These folks are either plain out idiots or just ignorant or scared
silly.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/119
26889.htm
Posted on Sat, Jun. 18, 2005

EAST COAST

Unusual bird deaths perplex officials
150 cases discovered this week alone
By Joey Holleman
Knight Ridder

Birds that typically stay offshore are showing up by the dozens on
S.C. beaches, either dead or dying.
Wildlife officials aren’t sure what’s causing the deaths, though it
appears to have some neurological root, said Al Segars, a
veterinarian with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

Because of the mystery, officials warn people who spot the birds on
beaches or inland to leave them alone.

Ignore the instinct to pick up a staggering bird and instead call
the local beach patrol or animal control offices, Segars said.
“Don’t take them home and try to nurse them back to health,” he said
Friday.

About 150 birds with the affliction have been found from northern
Georgia to Cape Hatteras this week, Segars said. Most are greater
shearwaters, though some are storm petrels or gannets. In general,
the offshore birds are about the size of larger gulls.

No typical shore birds, such as pelicans, gulls or terns seem to be
affected, Segars said.

Three ailing birds have been found at Hunting Island State Park,
said assistant park interpreter Laurel Weeks.

Two were dead. The other, which seemed disoriented, wandered off.
Segars said that’s typical of the birds found still alive. They
stagger when they can walk, often collapsing after awhile and dying.

That hints at a neurological problem, which might be related to an
algae bloom offshore, he said.
Toxic algae enters the food chain, and birds can be sickened by
eating tainted fish.

But the deaths could be simply the typical mortality of the birds
during migration. Onshore winds in recent days might be washing
ashore sick and dying birds that normally would have died in the
water offshore, Segars said.

Several of the birds have been sent to the Southeast Cooperative
Wildlife Disease Study lab in Georgia for testing.

About 150 greater shearwaters were found dead along North Carolina’s
Outer Banks in late June and early July 1995, according to the
National Wildlife Health Center.

Experts found those birds had died from malnourishment.