Questions Surround Deaths Of Thousands Of Birds At Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

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EMPIRE — Biologists said this summer's massive die-off of birds in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore signaled a shift in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Tests conducted by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources determined that Type E botulism killed an estimated 2,900 birds at the park since August.

The dead birds washed up on the Lake Michigan shoreline, prompting a flurry of calls from residents concerned about the cause. The outbreak was the topic of a seminar sponsored in November by the Inland Seas Education Association in Suttons Bay.

Todd Morgan, facility management specialist at Sleeping Bear, said it is too soon to tell whether measures can be taken to prevent a similar outbreak in 2007. The park's natural resources division is still analyzing data to determine the next step. "They are making contact with other agencies around the Great Lakes to see how widespread it is,” Morgan said. "I would still put it in the monitoring phase.”

The outbreak primarily impacted fish-eating birds, including common loons, cormorants, gulls, horned grebes and mergansers.

EDIT

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/dec/29nm-deadbirds.htm

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

1. interesting

and scary.