The Nature of Things

Dead ducks, loons and other birds.

November

More than 100 dead common loons, red-breasted mergansers, ring-billed gulls, herring gulls, great black-backed gulls, horned grebes, long-tailed ducks, greater scaups, double-crested cormorants and white-winged scoters have washed up on the shores of the Great Lakes in the past week – apparently because of some bad shellfish and fish.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says the waterfowl most likely consumed the quagga mussel and a fish called the Round Goby during migration breaks. In the past, those creatures, non-native ones, have sickened other birds with botulism. The mussel and the goby consume a lot of contaminants that they then pass on to others who eat them.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 4:40 pm by Mike Risinit.
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