Mystery surrounds dozens of sick, dead pelicans found on OR coast, officials say
Dozens of sick and dead pelicans are turning up along the Oregon coastline, and officials don’t have answers why.
Field offices in Gold Beach, Charleston, Newport and Tillamook have all gotten calls about the water bird, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said in an email to McClatchy News on April 25.
So far, 20 pelicans have been discovered dead, and 20 have been found sick, wildlife officials said.
“This incident is widespread on the Oregon coast,” spokesperson Beth Quillian said by email.
Test results from two pelican carcasses were negative for highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as the bird flu, officials said in an April 24 release.
More tests are awaiting results for disease or domoic acid toxicity, but those results will take several more days, Quillian said.
Domoic acid toxicity is caused by toxic algae blooms, which have appeared off Southern California coastlines, according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.
The algae has killed sea lions, dolphins and now whales, including a humpback whale and a minke whale, McClatchy News reported.
Larger marine mammals end up sick after eating small fish that “accumulate domoic acid,” according to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.
To date, there have been no reported animals sickened with domoic acid toxicity in Oregon, Quillian said.