""They didn't even try to fly away. They just feebly made noise," a woman told the Santa Barbara Independent on Saturday after spotting over two dozen dead or dying cormorants near Goleta Beach. "A few were on their stomachs, wings spread [and] gasping for breath.... Heartbreaking.""
""Last year was a very reproductive year for these species, meaning there are more juveniles out there, and when there's more birds, there's less resources," CDFW spokesperson Krysten Kellum told SFGATE. "Basically, they're starving. There's more competition out there for food.""
""It doesn't happen every year, but we've seen this throughout the years," Kellum said. "It's basically just there's not enough food for the increased number of birds.""
California's beaches are witnessing a mass mortality event affecting seabirds, particularly Brandt's cormorants and common murres, with California brown pelicans also impacted. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that the birds are suffering from starvation, with most examined being emaciated juveniles. Increased competition for food due to a reproductive surge last year is a contributing factor. Reports of mass deaths began last fall, and wildlife rehabilitation centers are seeing more sick or injured birds. Testing has ruled out avian influenza as a cause.
Read at SFGATE
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]