The AP reports that "Environmental service workers finished picking up the carcasses on Sunday of about 2,000 red-winged blackbirds that fell dead from the sky in a central Arkansas town.
around 300 more dead birds fell from the sky in Louisiana, and still more were reported found dead in Kentucky. 50 more were found fallen from the sky in Sweden. And around 100 blackbirds dropped out of the sky in New Zealand as well.
2,000,000 Dead Fish Wash Up in Chesapeake Here's the Baltimore Sun: "An estimated 2 million fish have been reported dead from the Bay Bridge south to Tangier Sound, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment, which investigates fish kills. The dead fish are primarily adult spot, with some juvenile croakers ... Large winter kills of spot have been documented at least twice before, the MDE spokeswoman said, with about 15 million dying in early 1976 and a smaller number in 1980."
40,000 Crabs Wash Ashore in Kent
The Daily Mirror reports that "More than 40,000 Devil crabs - also known as Velvet swimming crabs - were found strewn along beaches in Thanet along with dead starfish, lobsters, sponges and anemones." Scientists have blamed the death on colder than usual waters, which may have induced hypothermia in the sea life.
100 Tons of Fish Dead in Brazil
According to the Brazilian news outlet ParanaOnline, "A survey conducted by the Federation of Fishermen's Colony of Paraná, Paranaguá on the coast of the state, indicates that at least 100 tons of fish (sardine, croaker and catfish) have turned up dead since last Thursday off the coast of Parana." The fish have washed ashore, and no cause has been determined yet.
On the Average Year, Only About 10 Dead Penguins are Found in that Area
Over just the past 10 days, around 500 dead penguins have washed up on beaches in the Sao Paolo state of Brazil. What killed the black-and-white birds is still a mystery, though the autopsy of some of the dead birds has revealed empty stomachs, meaning that starvation could be the cause of death.
The most recent beaching occurred when 28 pilot whales washed up on a remote New Zealand beach. Nine were already dead, and the 19 surviving whales were dying and suffering, and had to be euthanized. The even brought the total of whales to die from stranding to 168 over the last couple months alone.
While strandings aren't uncommon on these New Zealand islands--a 160 whales died from stranding there in 200
theWashington Post points out that "when one news report about dead birds becomes big news, a few dead birds anywhere in the world becomes big news." After all, sudden mass animal deaths do occur more often than most of us realize: "About 500 million to 1 billion birds are killed every year and mass deaths have been noted about 16 times in the past 20 years," the PBS NewsHour reports. Even so, there's plenty to chew on here, and you can't blame the conspiracy theorists for tackling this one head on.
