In the Dutch North Sea, there has been an enigmatic mass extinction of alken birds. As researchers announced yesterday, 20,000 dead guillemots were washed ashore – from the northern Wadden Islands to Zeeland’s beaches in the southwest. All birds showed signs of severe debilitation.
Marine biologist Mardik Leopold from Wageningen University told AFP that the situation was „alarming“. The reasons for the mass extinction are unclear. Possibly the stormy winter weather caused the animals to have no power to eat herring or sprats. The question is, however, why there was the mass extinction only in the Netherlands.
Guilty of container ship?
The Dutch media speculated that there might be a connection between the dead birds and the sinking of the container ship „MSC Zoe“ in the North Sea. At the beginning of January, numerous containers had gone overboard during a storm in the sea area off the German-Dutch border, including two with dangerous goods.
First investigations showed that there were no plastic parts in the stomachs of the birds, as Leopold explained. Next week, scientists want to make large-scale autopsies on the dead birds.
