Now 100K Dead Fish Wash Up in ArkansasFish follow 5K blackbirds to their death
By Mary Papenfuss, Newser Staff
Posted Jan 3, 2011 2:00 AM CST | Updated Jan 3, 2011 7:55 AM CST
(Newser) – More bizarre happenings in Arkansas: The state, reeling from the chilling sight of thousands of dead birds dropping from the sky over the weekend, is now grappling with 100,000 fish that have washed up on a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River. Officials suspect disease killed the drum fish, and note that while fish die-offs aren't unusual, the size of this one is. Officials are hopeful the phenomenon isn't the result of pollution or toxins. "The fish kill only affected one species of fish," an official tells CNN. "If it was from a pollutant, it would have affected all of the fish." Click for more on the dead birds.
Read more...Situation Update More than 5000 birds fall dead from Sky in Arkansas 12-31-2010 New Years Evehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nBhYN738YU&feature=player_embeddedArkansas game officials hope testing scheduled to begin Monday will solve the mystery of why up to 5,000 birds fell from the sky just before midnight New Year's Eve. The birds -- most of which were dead -- were red-winged blackbirds and starlings, and they were found within a one-mile area of Beebe, about 40 miles northeast of Little Rock, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said. Birds fell over about a one-mile area, the commission said in a statement. As of Saturday, between 4,000 and 5,000 birds had been found dead, said Keith Stephens with the commission. "Shortly after I arrived, there were still birds falling from the sky," said commission wildlife officer Robby King in the statement. He said he collected about 65 dead birds. The commission said it flew over the area to gauge the scope of the event, and no birds were found outside of the initial one-mile area. Karen Rowe, an ornithologist for the commission, said the incident is not that unusual and is often caused by a lightning strike or high-altitude hail. A strong storm system moved through the state earlier in the day Friday.
"It's important to understand that a sick bird can't fly. So whatever happened to these birds happened very quickly," Rowe told CNN Radio on Sunday. "Something must have caused these birds to flush out of the trees at night, where they're normally just roosting and staying in the treetops ... and then something got them out of the air and caused their death and then they fell to earth," Rowe added. Officials also speculated that fireworks shot by New Year's revelers in the area might have caused severe stress in the birds. Rowe said Sunday there was evidence that large fireworks may have played a role. "Initial examinations of a few of the dead birds showed trauma. Whether or not this trauma was from the force of hitting the ground when they fell or from something that contacted them in the air, we don't know," Rowe said. The dead birds will be sent for testing to labs at the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission and the National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin. The necropsies will begin Monday, Stephens said, and the findings should be available sometime this week. The city of Beebe has hired U.S. Environmental Services to begin the cleanup and dispose of the dead birds, the commission said. The firm's workers will go door-to-door and pick up birds still in yards and on rooftops.
Look at the following web service for yourself folks. Something is killing mass amounts of birds and fish worldwide. This is by no means a rare event for the past year. Something is happening. In the military Parakeets are used as early warning system to detect chemical attacks.
The following copy and pasted from RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
About 1,000 black birds fell from the sky over Beebe on Friday night, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said in a news release Saturday. Around 11:30 p.m., the commission began receiving phone calls about the birds, most of which were dead and fell over a 1-mile span, the release said. Wildlife officer Robby King collected about 65 dead birds that will be sent to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis. Officers flew over the area and determined no birds had fallen outside that part of the city, the release said. Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said in the release that the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail. Or the birds could have died from stress if disturbed from their roost by fireworks celebrating the New Year. Beebe has hired the commission to dispose of the birds.
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