LAPUSH — More than 100 dead seabirds have been found on beaches stretching about 25 miles from Kalaloch to Rialto Beach since Friday.
Hundreds more of the birds — which appear to be primarily white-winged scoters and surf scoters — appear to be ill, said Mary Sue Brancato, a resource protection officer with Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
When many birds show up dead on beaches, it is termed a “wreck,” she said.
Citizen scientists — part of a group called the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team — have been reporting back to Brancato regularly since the birds started showing up dead and ill on Friday, she said.
“This is definitely what we would call a wreck,” she said.
“But I wouldn’t say that it is abnormal either, at least not yet.”
Brancato said it hasn’t yet been determined what caused the birds’ deaths or illnesses.
“Often when the birds are in a vulnerable state — say if they are molting or migrating or malnourished — and then there is an off-coast storm, we might see something like this,” Brancato said.
“They do appear to be molting and in the very beginning stages of migrating south from Alaska and the theory of the storm does hold up.
“However, the thing that is a little different about this situation is that typically we would expect to see several different species, whereas this is just a couple of them that seem to be impacted.”
In addition to the large number of dead birds, the ones that are alive on the beach seem to be ill.
“They seem to have some sort of food problem,” Brancato said.
“They appear to be dazed and ill, and some of them seem to be seizing.”
Algae bloom
Brancato said she and others are also evaluating a colorful algae bloom which was spotted offshore.
“It is a brownish color, but we don’t yet know if it is a toxic algae,” she said.
“We are having samples evaluated as we speak.”
Typically evaluations of the carcasses of the birds and the samples of the algae might take about a week, but the samples are being rushed because of the severity of the situation, she said.
Even so, it is unclear whether there is anything that can be done.
“Sometimes things like this just have to play out,” she said.
Species not listed
Although the white-winged scoters and surf scoters — commonly called “sea ducks” — are a declining species, they are not listed as endangered in Washington, Brancato said.
“They are of concern, though, and we are watching them very carefully,” Brancato said.
People encountering dead or apparently ill birds should stay far away from them, Brancato said.
“You can actually get illnesses from dead mammals and birds, so people should make sure and keep their animals and kids away from them as well,” she said.
If they see a large group of dead ones — more than five or six — they should contact the Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary at 360-457-6622, she said.
“We can then mobilize someone to collect them,” she said.
“This is a huge, huge effort involving us and Olympic National Park, [the Makah and Quileute] tribes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“We do have volunteers all over the place, but we appreciate knowing if people are stumbling across them.”
Brancato can be contacted at 360-457-6622, ext. 20.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
