* Blue stain believed to be sign of poisoning or hypoxia - lack of oxygen that is precursor to altitude sickness
* Cold weather and overbreeding blamed for deaths of two 2million fish in Chesapeake Bay
* Disease behind deaths of 100,000 fish in Arkansas River
* At least nine incidents of mass animal deaths across the globe
* Hundreds of confused birds plummeted to their deaths in multiple locations in the U.S.
* Rapid movement of Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have caused bird deaths
Thousands of dead turtle doves rained down on roofs and cars in an Italian town in the latest in a growing spate of mass animal deaths across the globe.
Residents in Faenza described the birds falling to the ground like 'little Christmas balls' with strange blue stains on their beaks.
Initial tests on up to 8,000 of the doves indicated that the blue stain could have been caused by poisoning or hypoxia.
A witness told www.examiner.com: 'We have no idea why this happened all of a sudden.
'The doves just started falling one-by-one then in groups of 10s and 20s.'
Hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, is known to cause confusion and illness in animals. It is also a common precursor to altitude sickness.
Experts said results from tests on the doves will not be available for at least a week.
They said that cold weather could have caused the birds' deaths as the flock was swept into a high-altitude wind storm before falling to the earth.
It comes after two million dead fish were found to have washed up on shores in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.
The alarming find is being blamed by authorities in Maryland on the stress caused by unusually cold water and overbreeding among spot fish.Enlarge
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via Animal death mystery: Two MILLION dead fish wash up in Maryland bay | Mail Online.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Animal death mystery: Two MILLION dead fish, thousands of birds
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4 comments:
I believe some of the birds could have been caught in an up draft .If they were flying at a high altitude already then pulled or blown upwards .They would have a lack of oxygen and their body temperature would plummet . There were tornadoes in at least one of those vicinities .
Cold can also kill algae in mass causing drops in oxygen levels in water . Which could explain the fish die off . Usually it goes like this > High summer temperatures increase algae growth .Which causes over population of fish because of the extra food ( algae ) Low winter temps kill the over populated algae . Causing a dip in oxygen levels .Which kills the fish by reducing food supply ( algae ) and leaving low oxygen . The fish suffocate and starve .
"High summer temperatures increase algae growth ..."
Are you talking about the algae blooms that now occur every summer?
Algae blooms have been around for a long time. Christopher Columbus saw one in the Caribbean - that is, one. It was such an event to him that he reported it in his logs.
But, their appearance in the same place every summer is definitely a new phenomenon. It began in the late 1980s along the coasts of many Western countries. Nearly the entire Baltic Sea blooms every summer now as does over 7,000 sq km. of the Gulf of Mexico just beyond the mouth of the Mississippi. Both of these are the largest in the world, and the one in the Gulf has been growing, showing no signs of decreasing in size (long before BP's catastrophe this last summer, which did nothing but help to increase its size) These blooms are almost everywhere now, throughout the world - & this is definitely a new feature in our modern era. The newest areas are along the coasts of Africa.
Algae blooms are caused by human pollution: fertilizers and organ waste from streams that flow into coastal areas.
And, most algae are microscopic plants, but they all fed on the organic waste. They don't need oxygen to survive. Each species of algae has a definite life cycle, from growth, reproduction to death. When they die, as they continually do even when its warm, the bacteria that decompose the algae do need oxygen. And, this is what causes the "dead zones" which occurs in the summers, where nothing lives except anaerobic bacteria.
Thus, the fish kills that we see now in the cold months are not due to algae blooms. If it was such a simple explanation, it would seem certain the media would have caught on and reported it. But, I haven't heard anything about the recent fish kills and algae blooms.
But, you may correct if I'm wrong.
I think all the weather manipulation might have caused the deaths, just speculation though. If it got really really cold all of a sudden, would birds cramp up in freezing air, like we do when we jump into freezing water? Kinda ominous, whatever the cause....
Peace
I know by experiences in my own area .For years in this region ( Pacific northwest USA ). There have been several mass fish die offs . It took scientists years to discover that low oxygen caused by Algae blooms dying off when cold weather hits . It's not as easy to detect as one might expect . Especially when you have fresh and salt water mix . Which can travel hundreds if not thousands of miles out to sea. It's not just cold temperatures that can cause the effect . Any change in water temperature or chemical make up . Like food supply or microscopic minerals or metals such as zinc , copper etc...These effects can be off set in time . So if one finds effect like die off the cause can already have passed by leaving no obvious trace .If you have fish suddenly die it is usually one of two things low oxygen or chemical toxicity . Everything else you said is true except for the timing of die offs from low oxygen . It can occur at anytime for various reasons . But there have been reoccurring die offs in winter . Algae grow fastest in warm summer months then reduce in winter causing dead zones with reduced oxygen . Algae produce oxygen which increases according to algae mass . Oxygen dips as algae die ( not making oxygen if dead ;-) Mass algae die off stagnates water further . It's a revolving cycle . As time goes by the dead algae become food for the the next cycle of algae bloom . And it starts all over again .
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