Preliminary tests yield possible cause of death for dozens of birds: hypothermia

LAPUSH — Preliminary tests Tuesday showed that hundreds of birds found dead or sick on West End beaches could have died from the cold Pacific Ocean water after a soap-like substance from plankton in a brown algae bloom stripped their feathers of protective oil.

The effect of hypothermia would be temporary but deadly to many birds, said Mary Sue Brancato, a resource protection officer with Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

“We don’t know for sure that this is what is causing it,” Brancato said. “But if this is what is happening, it would cause the feathers to lose their oil and not to be water repellent, and then the birds get wet and suffer from hypothermia.”

More than 100 birds were found dead last weekend on 25 miles of beaches stretching from Kalaloch to Rialto Beach. Several hundred more continued to be ill on Tuesday.

“About 95 percent of them are scoters, though there are a handful of other birds,” said Olympic National Park wildlife biologist Scott Gremel.

Necropsies on the birds — primarily white-winged scoters and surf scoters — had not been performed Tuesday.

The preliminary report revealed that plankton in a brown algae bloom off the West End coast is the same type that was linked to mass deaths of seabirds in 2007 in Monterey Bay, Calif., Brancato said.

If that is true, then neither the plankton nor the algae is poisonous. Instead, foam from the plankton is a soap-like substance that temporarily strips oil from the birds’ feather so that they are no longer water-repellent.

The plankton — the dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea — would be considered a contributing factor but not a direct cause, Brancato said.

More tests will reveal whether the birds died of hypothermia or of something else, she said.

Those tests should be back at the end of this week or beginning of next week, she said.

Gremel said that park officials are monitoring the situation, and collected more samples Tuesday.

Not dangerous for humans

The beaches are not considered dangerous for human beings, said Cat Hawkins Hoffman, chief of the park’s natural resource division, saying that more information would be known once the results of tests on samples were received.

Brancato said that if the current hypothesis of the birds dying from hypothermia holds up, the algae is not dangerous to humans, but added that some surfers in California reported skin rashes and respiratory problems.

“But it wouldn’t be anything seriously dangerous,” she said.

She cautioned people to leave dead and ailing birds alone and to take extra precautions with children and pets on beaches.

“At this point it doesn’t appear to be a disease, or anything like an oil spill,” Gremel said.

Shellfish feeders

A unique aspect of the scoters are that they feed on shellfish, Gremel said.

Hawkins Hoffman said that the scoters eat clams whole — including the shells.

That could make them more vulnerable to toxicity in algae if it were transmitted through shellfish, Gremel said.

“We won’t know until the final tests on the carcasses come back,” he said.

Both Gremel and Brancato said that the birds appeared to be vulnerable because they were molting and are in the beginning stages of migrating south.

“Really this could be a combination of stressors because the birds are molting, migrating and appear to be emaciated,” Brancato said.

“So all of those things could be contributing to their deaths.”

Odd behavior

Jim Conomos, owner of the Rainforest Hostel, spotted many birds acting oddly over the course of the weekend.

“These birds normally stay in the water all the time,” he said, “and they were hovering in a corner off of the beach.

“Big waves would come up and wash them out, and then they’d crawl right back out, and they don’t walk too good on land.”

Conomos, who was watching the birds on First Beach in LaPush, said that many of the birds appeared to be seizing and that their feathers looked strange — almost as if they had lost their oil and were waterlogged.

Conomos said the brown algae bloom off the coast was unusual.

“I’ve lived here for 20 years and haven’t seen anything like it,” he said.

“The water turned cocoa brown with that algae.

“I am really worried about what is going on.”

__________

Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Commander R.J. Jameson, center, exits the change of command ceremony following his assumption of the role on Friday at the American Legion Hall in Port Townsend. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Naval Magazine Indian Island sees change in command

Cmdr. R.J. Jameson steps into role after duties across world

Allen Chen.
Physician officer goes back to roots

OMC’s new hire aims to build services

f
Readers give $111K in donations to Home Fund

Donations can be made for community grants this spring

A ship passes by Mount Baker in the Strait of Juan de Fuca as seen from the Port Angeles City Pier on Wednesday morning. The weather forecast continues to be chilly this week as overnight temperatures are expected to hover around freezing. Daytime highs are expected to be in the mid-40s through the weekend. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Off in the distance …

A ship passes by Mount Baker in the Strait of Juan de… Continue reading

Creative District to transfer to PT

Creating year-round arts economy program’s goal

Officers elected to Port of PT’s Industrial Development Corporation

Surveyor to determine value of 1890 wooden tugboat

Clallam County to install anti-human trafficking signs

Prosecuting attorney to challenge other jurisdictions to follow suit

Portion of Old Olympic Highway to be resurfaced

Project will cost about $951,000

Dona Cloud and Kathy Estes, who call themselves the “Garbage Grannies,” volunteer each Wednesday to pick up trash near their neighborhood on the west side of Port Angeles. They have been friends for years and said they have been doing their part to keep the city clean for five years now. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Garbage grannies

Dona Cloud and Kathy Estes, who call themselves the “Garbage Grannies,” volunteer… Continue reading

Director: OlyCAP’s services contributed $3.4M in 2024

Nonprofit provided weatherization updates, energy and utility assistance

Clallam Transit purchases vehicles for interlink service

Total ridership in December was highest in seven years, official says