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Georgian Bay: Dead Birds, In The Thousands, Washed Up On Shores

Dead Birds Georgian Bay

First Posted: 10/22/11 05:20 PM ET Updated: 10/25/11 03:55 PM ET

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WASAGA BEACH, Ont. - As many as 6,000 dead birds have washed up on the shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario, say authorities, who believe botulism may be to blame.

Ontario Provincial Police Const. Peter Leon said Saturday the number of dead waterfowl is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000.

The dead birds are scattered along a nearly three-kilometre stretch north of the community of Wasaga Beach, said Leon.

Federal and provincial officials believe the cause of the death is a form of botulism, apparently from the birds eating dead fish, he said.

Ministry of Natural Resources officials did not immediately return requests for information Saturday, but just two weeks ago they issued a news release saying the death of large numbers of fish and wildlife on the Great Lakes is not uncommon at certain times of the year. Georgian Bay is on Lake Huron.

Small-scale die-offs caused by botulism occur annually around the Great Lakes, with the last large-scale one happening in Lake Ontario in 2007, the ministry said.

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Dead birds line a portion of Allenwood Beach just outside of Wasaga Beach, Ontario Saturday Oct. 22, 2011. As many as 6,000 dead birds are washing up on the shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario, say authorities, who believe botulism may be to blame.
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According to public health agencies, no cases of human illness have been attributed to outbreaks of botulism in the Great Lakes.

Type E botulism toxin is produced by a bacterium that lives in lake bottom sediment, and under certain conditions it begins producing the toxin, which then enters the aquatic food chain, according to the ministry. Birds who eat affected fish can die.

Health Canada says proper cooking and handling of food eliminates the botulism toxin.

Police say people in the area are being advised to keep a close eye on their children and pets to make sure they stay away from the dead birds.

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WASAGA BEACH, Ont. - As many as 6,000 dead birds have washed up on the shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario, say authorities, who believe botulism may be to blame.Ontario Provincial Police Const. Peter L...
WASAGA BEACH, Ont. - As many as 6,000 dead birds have washed up on the shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario, say authorities, who believe botulism may be to blame.Ontario Provincial Police Const. Peter L...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Siebenstein
> there is no endless growth
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11:22 PM on 10/29/2011
Questioning what caused this is ridiculous in itself, since we know what causes it---our toxic living.
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Laurella Desborough
LivingInTheRealWorld
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01:54 PM on 10/24/2011
Well, I think this would DEMAND a scientific testing of at least a dozen of the dead birds...tests including botulism, but also heavy metals, pesticides, etc...a nice variety of tests to see exactly what has happened. To "suggest" it is botulism but not to confirm that diagnosis is simply wrong.
I would think any government would find it of importance to KNOW what is happening because what happens to these birds COULD have ramifications as to potential problems for humans. And, I would expect these tests to be done by government labs AND at least performed also by one independent lab which is familiar with avian species.
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cocovilla1998
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10:05 AM on 10/29/2011
You are EXACTLY RIGHT. I believe that so far the government is LYING. The residents that have LIVED in that area for over 50 years have NEVER seen this happen so something is VERY VERY WRONG. I DEMAND a government scientific test AND an independent one. I'm sick and tired and outraged at news organizations AND government agencies "suggesting" a cause of something or other. No conclusion should ever be drawn unless one is sure or they simply do not know as yet and continue testing. Governments may not be held accountable in my lifetime but eventually they will be held accountable, each and every one. There are too many people in positions of power and authority who have no business being there.
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LivelyLexie
Don't panic.
256 Fans
09:45 AM on 10/24/2011
Uh-oh, it's like in Flash Forward (for the dozen or so of you that watched it).
In all seriousness though, this is sad - and pretty creepy.
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Jeremyewilliams
Reality is not the GOPs cup of tea!
613 Fans
09:25 AM on 10/24/2011
What we are doing to the earth, it's not right.

Wild animals stand no chance at survival with us around.
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psssstyeahyou
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01:58 AM on 10/24/2011
40ish years there and i can tell you this is not common. not one bit. somethings really wrong.
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Oginikwe
I think therefore I'm dangerous
923 Fans
02:34 AM on 10/24/2011
No kidding!! I've lived on the Great Lakes all of my life and have never seen piles of dead birds like this.
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Linus521
In wildness is the salvation of mankind
483 Fans
01:21 AM on 10/24/2011
I would think, it would be natural for sea birds to consume dead fish as a natural process in their food chain. What gives? In the last many months, we have reported sightings of dieoff of birds, entire clouds of them, falling to Earth, dead.

Native species of birds are biological diversity, and when entire clouds plummet to the Earth dead, this is very disturbing as biological diversity is in the eco-nomics of all ecosystems and all life on the Earth.
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Ecolke
Judge a man's character by how he treats animals.
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10:12 AM on 10/24/2011
That was my first thought, 'wouldn't it be common for these birds to eat dead fish'? If this is part of this specie's natural diet then I'm not buying the botulism explanation. Perhaps the fish were contaminated with something, or the birds contracted a virus.

Is it me, or does it seem like there are a lot of weird things happening on Earth over the last year and a half? Too many weird phenomena. Bird die offs, fish kills, multiple massive floods, multiple record breaking wildfires, multiple large earthquakes, and much more. I doubt all of it is related or connected, but we humans are destroying the earth for future generations.

Too much weird chit happening.
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MyTake
Release the Hydrogen Economy now!
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03:03 PM on 10/23/2011
Congrats HuffPo, excuse me, I meant AOL HuffPO!

Publishing another Canadian Press article again without identifying who WROTE this article.

I get infuriated with reporters who put this stock line into their articles --Ministry of Natural Resources officials did not immediately return requests for information Saturday--

Who phones a GOVERNMENT OFFICE on a Saturday expecting to get ANSWERS to QUESTIONS!

Ah, shouldn't you be ASKING the Government what TESTS have been conducted/are conducting on these birds and ask for a COPY of the TEST RESULTS!

No, I phoned on a Saturday and no one returned my call, so I will be FLASH this story out with a couple of photo's and I may NEVER get back to this story because something else will move it off the front pages on Monday.
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Ecolke
Judge a man's character by how he treats animals.
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10:13 AM on 10/24/2011
Excellent point!
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GoldenTress
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12:35 PM on 10/23/2011
Google HAARP. Also see http://www.ironmill.com/2011/01/04/haarp-is-to-blame-for-dead-birds-in-arkansas/
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chuck nathaniel
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02:51 PM on 10/23/2011
Google HAARP Debunked.
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Jeremyewilliams
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09:26 AM on 10/24/2011
Oh give me a break.
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jferdy5
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12:11 PM on 10/23/2011
It's obviously due to chemtrails, vaccinations, and not enough granola in their avian diets, right Huffpo? Canada's source of left-wing pseudo-scientific nonsense!
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Linus521
In wildness is the salvation of mankind
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01:28 AM on 10/24/2011
Now, when the strands in the web of all life, start dieoff and falling from the sky en masse, I would think most homo sapiens with brainpans might grow a little concerned. As many of our scientists maintain, each day, Earth becomes more like Mars and that all biological diversity is in the eco-nomics of all life and the Earth's ecosystems or man's oxygen, fresh water, food and life giving functions, cycles and systems, and science proclaims they have no analogues to all the vast unnatural changes occurring all over the Earth, maybe, just sorta, man might dare to say, gosh, the strands in the web of all life, keep falling from the skies or no analogues truly do not exist.

Might it be safe to say, life on Earth is not the usual as man continues on his merry path of killing the life giving and living surface of Earth.
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chuck nathaniel
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11:48 AM on 10/23/2011
Seriously, am I the only one who thinks the official reason for this deaths seems less than plausible?
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chuck nathaniel
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12:43 PM on 10/23/2011
Actually, after reading more, I think botulism is a valid reason.

"Type E botulism toxin is produced by a bacterium that lives in lake bottom sediment, and under certain conditions it begins producing the toxin, which then enters the aquatic food chain, according to the ministry. Birds who eat affected fish can die."
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goleafsgo
A Lie stands on one leg, Truth on two.
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01:24 PM on 10/23/2011
What I would like to know is how often this has happened in the past and why have I never heard of such en masse deaths before?   Show us the records that note this as a natural occurrence.  I am sorry folks.  It just does not sit well with me.
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jenn210830
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11:08 AM on 10/23/2011
i remember this happening a while back here in the states too....not exactly the same, but the birds just fell dead out of the sky. I wonder what they determined the cause was on that. I wonder if its linked somehow.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
alsm9
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10:30 AM on 10/23/2011
Food poisoning did this? I don't know. Doesn't sound right to me. 6,000 birds, that's some powerful botulism. A lot of fish would have to be contaminated with it.
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chuck nathaniel
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02:52 PM on 10/23/2011
I thought that too, until I did a bit of research:

""Small-sca­le die-offs caused by botulism occur annually around the Great Lakes, with the last large-scal­e botulism-r­elated die-off occurring in Lake Ontario in 2007;""
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YrthWyndAndFyre
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11:55 PM on 10/23/2011
The toxin generated by C. Botulinum is the single most lethal naturally occurring toxin on the face of the earth. Four kilograms of pure toxin is enough to wipe out humanity.

While I'd like to know somebody is doing a necropsy on a couple of the birds to confirm, botulism poisoning is more than merely enough, and it wouldn't take as many fish as you would think. If you assume the largest species of gull (at about 1.75 Kg/bird) you would only need about 32 mg of Botulism toxin to kill 6,000 birds. To put that in perspective, that's a little over the weight of a large grain of coarse sand.

Yes, that's some powerful botulism.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Creox
Life is too important to take seriously.
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10:06 AM on 10/23/2011
There must of been a hell of a lot of dead fish to feed and kill that many birds.

That leads to the next question....
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RhysJ W
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03:48 PM on 10/23/2011
last i checked every fish a bird ate was a dead fish. All the fish come from the same region, therefore it makes sense.
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PATOISJAM
reason: strategize: succeed
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09:39 AM on 10/23/2011
pollution pollution pollution sewage sewage sewagemercurymercurymercuryradiationradiationradiationplasticplasticplasticetcetcetc
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