Hundreds
of ducks found dead around lakes
WIVB,
4
March, 2014
Hundreds
of ducks are being found dead along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and
the state Department of Environmental Conversation says extensive ice
coverage is to blame.
The
ducks have been found along the Lake Ontario shoreline, the Niagara
River, in the open waters of Lake Erie, and Dunkirk Harbor.
Conservationists say the fish eating birds found dead are emaciated
and lack water-proofing, which is often a side effect of starvation.
Biologists
believe the extensive ice coverage on the lakes has forced wintering
waterfowl to concentrate in the limited remaining open water. That,
in turn, reduces the food for all and, along with severe cold, is
killing off the undernourished birds.
Though
the mortality rate is difficult to estimate, the DEC categorized it
as “extensive.”
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