Local residents are concerned after finding dozens of dead and dying birds on beaches in nearby Tiny Township.
According to the township, it has been in contact with the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit regarding the matter with CWHC collecting bird samples for testing.
"This is a distressing occurrence — usually in October it seems — that has occurred repeatedly not only on Georgian Bay but on the other Great Lakes and will probably only get worse with climate change," said Ken MacDonald, program director and Ontario Nature representative with the Midland-Penetanguishene Field Naturalists.
"Mother Nature is crying out for us to take action on climate change but we just don't seem to be able to hear her."
According to the Georgian Bay Association migrating birds ingesting large quantities of invasive round goby and zebra and quagga mussels that carry botulism is probably the cause of the die off of fish-eating birds such as loons, cormorants, seagulls and grebes on beaches along the southern shores of Georgian Bay.
"The bacteria that causes the botulism is usually locked in the sediment, but the bottom-dwelling mussels ingest it when they filter the water," the association noted. "The round goby eat the mussels and the birds eat the goby."
Like MacDonald, the association said incidents such as this one are occurring more regularly nowadays and will likely keep happening as "climate change induced warming water allows these invasives to flourish and provide an easy to catch food source for the birds."
Local residents are being advised that if they find dead birds (or fish) on township-owned beaches, to call the township's public works department for pick up and disposal.
On other beaches, residents are advised to double bag the birds and place them on the roadside and call the department to have them picked up.
The CWHC suggests that when handling dead birds, one should wear a mask, gloves and eye protection to avoid touching them directly. A shovel can also be used to place the dead birds into garbage bags.
CWHC wildlife pathologist Brian Stevens said they will perform a necropsy examination (autopsy on an animal) early next week on the birds to determine if there are any changes to suggest a cause of death.
"We would then perform additional testing, microscopic examination for example, to further determine what may have led to their death," Stevens said. "Assuming there is no obvious cause of death from this testing, then we will be performing botulism testing on the ducks.
"The most likely cause of death for these birds is type E botulism, which we unfortunately see quite commonly in the diving and fish-eating ducks on Georgian Bay during the fall months. This testing can take a few weeks for us to complete but we will be prioritizing these cases."
Local resident Yvette Robitaille-Aube said she used to run a bird sanctuary and previously dealt with a shoreline botulism outbreak.
"Here's how the cycle goes," she said. "One critter dies of botulism and it is found by flies. The flies have mated,they lay eggs, eggs hatch into maggots, the maggots now have botulism."
Other birds that aren’t normally known as fish eaters might develop botulism from eating maggots infected with botulism off dying birds, she noted.
"So the cycle goes on and on and on until someone like myself and my girlfriend went along the beach with garbage bags and picked up every dead bird."
As well, its best to keep dogs on a leash when walking along a beach where dead birds have been found since pets can get get sick if they eat the botulism-infested maggots on the birds' bodies.
The botulism bacterium “is the most toxic natural substance on Earth,” Stephen Riley, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, says in an article published in the Great Lakes Echo.
“Just one gram could kill off like two million people. And for these birds, it’s essentially just widespread food poisoning.”
Three years ago, hundreds of birds were found dead or dying along the shores of Georgian Bay in Midland, Tiny and Collingwood with botulism found to be the cause.
Again in that case, the dead and dying birds were fish eaters and had likely consumed bacteria from the fish, which ultimately caused them to develop a form of botulism, which releases toxins that can induce difficulty breathing, paralysis and death.
And a decade before that, nearly 6,000 birds washed up on the shores with authorities certain that botulism was the cause.
Two years ago, Tiny resident Grazyna Chochol made a shocking discovery while taking a stroll along the beach.
“I counted 46 dead ducks along a 1.5- to two-kilometre stretch,” Chochol said at the time, noting she found the waterfowl either in shallow water near the beach or washed up onshore near Tiny Beaches Road North and Shelly Lane.
At the time, Stevens said they suspected a type E botulism outbreak based on negative testing for avian influenza and the type of species found (mainly long-tailed ducks).
Those living along the shoreline and others are encouraged to report dead or dying waterfowl to the CWHC at (866) 673-4781. To report fish die-offs, call the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry at 1-800-667-1940.
