Tuesday, January 4, 2011

100,000 Fish Die Near Bird Calamity

100,000 fish die near town where 5,000 blackbirds fell from sky

Dead Drum Fish Arkansas River (pic: ITV Screengrab)

A SECOND mysterious disaster killed 100,000 fish on the day 5,000 birds dropped dead from the sky in the same US state, it was revealed yesterday.

Shoals of drum fish corpses littered a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River and washed up near Ozark city.

A tugboat operator found them on New Year’s Eve at the same time that flocks of blackbirds started smashing into the ground at the Arkansas town of Beebe, 125 miles away.

The distressing twin catastrophes are not thought to be connected, said wildlife experts. They collected some of the dead or dying fish from the riverbank and were last night investigating the tragedy, which was not made public till yesterday.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens said mass “kills” of fish occur every year but he revealed that the magnitude of the latest one was unusual...

[Full Article]


100,000 Fish Killed After Bird Calamity

MORE than 100,000 fish have been washed up dead - in the second mysterious wildlife tragedy in days.

They were found on river banks about 120 miles from a town where up to 5,000 birds fell dead from the sky.

Baffled US environment experts were trying to see if there is a link between the two events.

The dead drum fish were found on a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River near Ozark.

Keith Stephens, of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said: "Only one species was affected.

"If pollution was to blame it would have affected all fish, not just the drum fish."...

[Full Article]