Dead birds, dead fish update: Did overeating cause Italy turtle dove deaths?
January 10, 2010 – The ongoing reports of dead birds and fish is continuing to make headlines in the UK and around the world.
On Monday, the Daily Mail quoted an expert who believes that the 1,000 turtle doves that fell from the sky in Italy were killed as a result of overeating.
Tests results are due on Monday but Rodolfo Ridolfi, a director at a regional zoological institute, told the Mail:’We are fairly confident the birds died as a result of massive indigestion brought on by over-eating.”
Wild theories on what is causing the bird and fish deaths
Meanwhile, on Sunday, a lengthy column in The Telegraph is titled: “Aflockalypse now: on a wing and a prayer. Were sinister wildlife deaths around the globe foretold in the Bible, asks Philip Sherwell – or just foul play?”
The author, Philip Sherwell, quoted Karen Rowe, a senior ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. She said she doesn’t take calls from the public any longer because she has been swamped with wacky theories of what is causing the bird deaths.
Rowe told The Telegraph that scientists have been accused of covering up the “real” cause of bird and fish deaths.
“I feel like the spoiler at the party when I explain that there is nothing there to justify a conspiracy theory,” the scientist said. “They just got flushed from their roost, crashed into things and died. The only thing this has in common with dead fish in the Arkansas river or dead birds in Louisiana is that they have nothing in common.”
Magnetic pole shift, magnetic field change as the cause of the bird kills?
Over the weekend, The Daily Mail story touched on a theory that has caused a lot of buzz on the Internet. That theory is that some of the bird kills could be the result of a shift in the magnetic field. The birds rely on magnetic fields for navigation. The north pole has been shifting by as much as 25 miles per year. Experts say further testing will need to be done to determine whether the shifting magnetic fields played any part in the animal deaths. Should we be alarmed about the recent cases and are they connected?
The consensus among scientists is no and no.
In an article posted online Saturday in the Wall Street Journal’s Web site Saturday, Paul Slota, spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey, which has been tracking mass animal deaths since the 1970s. told the paper that mass animal kills are not uncommon.
“In the last 10 years we have logged 188 cases just involving birds with mortality exceeding 1,000 animals per event,” the USGS expert told the WSJ.
See also the Associated Press video on the left. Other experts echoed that opinion to the AP.
More evidence is surfacing that the reports of massive dead birds and fish that were found in Arkansas, Louisiana, Nashville, Tennessee and overseas in Sweden, Brazil, New Zealand and the UK are not unusual.
Thousands of dead crabs washed on shore in England but UK authorities say that cold weather is most likely to blame.
The USGS says mass animal kills happens regularly in nature and some of the deaths could also be related to toxins and loud noise produced by man. The mass bird deaths in Arkansas are thought to be the result of noise from New Years fireworks.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that the 2 million dead fish that were found in Maryland may be the result of unusually cool weather.
“It’s colder than it’s been in 25 years,” Dawn Stoltzfus, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of the Environment told the Post. “That’s terrible news for the (fish). In 1976, 15 million were killed during a cold snap”
The BBC is also debunking the conspiracy theories which blame the dead birds and fish on everything from BP to a sign from God. One biblical scholar, Harold Camping, has predicted the end of the world will be on May 21, 2011. That has caused more to suspect that the bird and fish kills could be a precursor to the apocalypse. Some have jokingly called it the “aflockalypse.”
The BCC concludes, “But experts insist that what is going on is pretty common and that the incidents are unconnected.”
Could we be hearing more about mass bird and fish kills because there is more reporting of the kills in the media?
Yes. Whereas dead fish washing up on a shore in New Zealand might not ordinarily make worldwide news, it is making news because of the other cases. It may be a bit of a snowball effect. More cases of dead birds and dead fish get reported because more cases of dead birds and dead fish are being reported. The Internet, including Facebook and Twitter, have meant that more people are reporting on incidents that otherwise would go unreported.
According to the Associated Press, massive kills happen on the average of every other day somewhere in North America. But there is generally not a tendency to link them together as there have in these most recent cases.
Source: Examiner.com
‘Aflockalypse’ Now: Mass bird & fish die-off leaves science baffled
Related posts:
Methane gas- This is the 'try-to-hide' proof. Birds and fish are highly sensitive concerning methane. There's an increasing wobble affecting our planet, therefore tectonic plates -the massive ones like the euro asian, indo australian, north and south america and african- are sliding, because of the core of the earth tries to reestablish the inner balance and the lean. 10 degrees -as
thank you RT news,, RT NEWS seems to be one of a few news-writers that follow-up on reports. there is a MAP on net of world which lists and dots the areas of numerous species ,groupdeaths this past month. no just red winged black songbirds,or water species. some reports of birds over eating~ leftover grapes used for wine making ..{ i live with vineyards surrounding here— those birds LIVE
Ok, I will go along with the concensus that this is a common event, with the earliest reporting being done in the 70s. Ok, now 2011, same common event and the answers still escapes the scientist, our smartest brains on the planet? One suggestion was indegestion from overeating, so none of the birds knew when to stop eating? Was this force feeding at its worst? First reason was caused by lightning
Stamping Out Harold Camping<br /><br /> Is Second Coming date-setter Harold Camping worthy of death? He already has a zero batting average after his September 1994 prediction fizzle and, according to the Bible, is a false prophet.<br /> Nevertheless that California shaman, who should be ashamed, claims he's found out that Christ's return will be on May 21, 2011 even though Matt.
My wild theory is that the aliens are warning us….killing the odd flock of birds, causing havoc with floods, etc, to show us what we can expect when they finally arrive in 2012. Flexing their muscles, so to speak. Governments could be being blackmailed, but are helpless in the face of what the aliens can do. They must be able to control the weather, etc. They're coming back to check on