5 scary animal kingdom tragedies, dead blackbirds in Mexico to fish in Chile

As we grow old and progress technologically, we are seeing the consequences of this progress in nature like never before. After seeing the phenomenon of lizards, puffins, and even blackbirds falling from the skies, humans are seeing thousands of fish being washed ashore, even more frequently these days.

This is not the first time shoals of dead fish have been found on beaches in this part of Chile...Similar incidents reported last year were explained by low oxygen levels in deeper waters, with fish swimming closer to the shoreline in search of nutrients. pic.twitter.com/W5TBqxgPi4

— Euronews Green (@euronewsgreen) February 22, 2022

Chileans woke up to a weird sight recently, when thousands of dead sardines and anchovies washed up on a Chilean beach. This incident happened on the shores of Coliumo, in the Biobio area, where dead marine animals were washed ashore due to circumstances which are currently unexplainable.  

Currently, the environmental officials have taken to investigating the water quality in the region to understand the actual cause of the mysterious incident. There is also a manual clean-up operation that is happening, since tractors cannot be used in these situations. 

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?

Though there is no clue as to how this event happened overnight, a similar incident had taken place last year. When investigated, this had then turned out to be because of low oxygen levels in deeper waters, which led the fish to swim closer to the shoreline in search of nutrients.

Large scale pollution, lack of oxygen, climate change, and the spread of parasites in the Baltic Sea had worsened the quality of fish. But is that the sole reason that is driving them to the shore? That is still a mystery. 

MORE INCIDENTS IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS

1. BIRDS FALLING FROM THE SKY (FEB 2022)

Remember seeing that video of the CCTV footage in Mexico where hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds fell dead to the ground?

I prefer birds to not abruptly fall out of the sky in this manner. pic.twitter.com/oF1a8LGztj

— A Goddamn Delight ? (@Reesha) February 18, 2022

CCTV footage from a security camera showed a flock of migratory birds curiously plunging to the street from a great height. While many initially managed to fly away, subsequently there was a mass collection of carcasses scattered across the road.

EARLIER ALLEGATIONS

#Yellow-headed #Blackbird May 15 at #Iona Beach in British Columbia. pic.twitter.com/DcDCl1PWnJ

— Richard Allan (@sparowhwk) June 10, 2015

While veterinarians blamed that the birds inhaled toxic fumes from wood-burning heaters used during the cold weather, others blamed electrocution from nearby power lines for the unique situation. There was even speculation that the installation of 5G technology could be a cause of such unique unwanted situation.

FINAL CONCLUSION

Recently, some environmental experts claimed that the moves of a predatory bird called Northern Harrier caused the flock of yellow and black fowls to plunge to their deaths. As these birds usually move in flocks, these incidents usually happen when the annual migration happens.

2. PUFFINS WASHING UP ON THE SCOTLAND COAST (DEC 2021)

Over 100 puffins, also named 'sea parrots', were found dead on the northeast coast of Scotland, Shetland and Orkney in December 2021 when they were continuously washing up on the shores for three weeks. 

Several #Puffins have come ashore here in Shetland over the last few days. Suspect it is linked to the situation along other North Sea coasts from Orkney - Netherlands. Food shortage? Storms? Happy to say this one was released in a much better condition than when we found it ? pic.twitter.com/GYy0hNHCEk

— Hugh Harrop Wildlife (@HughHarrop) December 15, 2021

The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), which monitors these seabird populations to record the effects of environmental change, called this the most unusual event in the last 50 years which was caused due to a problem in the marine food chain. If birds are dead in such a huge number, it is a cause of concern in the long term, since puffins have a life span of 25 years, mate for life, and have one egg a year on an average. This will have an immediate knock-on effect in the coming years.

Puffin love ♥️ #puffins pic.twitter.com/RhySlBJtmk

— Puffins Daily (@PuffinsDaily) February 22, 2022

Since some puffins were found covered in oil spillage, this was also a cause of concern since oil coating on their plumage can cause them to lose critical body heat. The investigation into the deaths of the razorbills and guillemots focused on two possible causes: a significant failure of the marine food chain due to warmer temperature waters or toxic poisoning due to algal blooms, though it may be a combination of the two.

3. DEAD FISH FOUND OFF THE FRANCE COAST (FEB 2022)

Sea Shepherd calls for a ban on super trawlers like the F/V Margiris, which dumped 100k dead fish back into the sea. Watch the video here: https://t.co/PgLodS0bgn#OpOceanKillers @SeaShepherdFran pic.twitter.com/ppnv7PxtXF

— Sea Shepherd (@seashepherd) February 18, 2022

Imagine getting on a boat to sail through the ocean's waves and wave your hands through the breezy air and feel the cold water, only to be shocked with the view of about 1,00,000 dead fish floating on the water. Quite a mood killer, isn't it?    

BREAKING NEWS: The super trawler responsible for a massive fish spill off the coast of France is being allowed to fish in Scotland by @NicolaSturgeon @theSNP @BorisJohnson @Conservatives #SuperTrawler #Margiris #Ecocide #ClimateCrisis #OceanDestruction #UKGovernment #Scotland pic.twitter.com/AZrYjZlnCa

— beaver (@eveikigai) February 21, 2022

The world's second-biggest fishing vessel, called FV Margiris, shed over 1,00,000 dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean in France and if you notice the photo closely, you will see a dense layer of blue whiting fishes, lying there just like a floating layer of carcass. This fish is a sub-species of cod that is used by the industry to mass-produce fish fingers, fish oil and meal. It is usually caught using nets which are dragged for kilometres into the sea, and then processed on the ship itself, called a 'bycatch'. But if the net gets cut, the fish spill over on to the sea, which is exactly what happened here. Seems like there are no records of instances like these happening in the world, which is why even though these are normal practices, the ship called it rare.  

4. CRANES DYING FROM BIRD FLU (DEC 2021)

Blue cranes making a stopover in #Israel's Hula Valley during migration. Beautiful! ??? pic.twitter.com/NquoIli8CS

— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) August 23, 2020

A bird flu outbreak in Israel killed thousands of wild cranes, an unusually high toll for the seasonal flu. Called the 'Deadliest Wildlife Disaster' in the country's history, at least 5,200 cranes of the half-million which travel through Israel on their way to Africa, lay dead in the Hula Valley of Israel. As the carcasses in itself posed danger to the other animals in the food chain like vultures and eagles who feast on it, it was vital for workers to remove the carcasses as quickly as possible. 

Apart from the 5,200 dead cranes, another 10,000 cranes were believed to be infected and half a million chicken in the area were expected to be slaughtered to prevent the disease from spreading.