What does everyone think about the birds that have died suddenly in Kentucky, Italy and Sweden? There have also been many fish that have died throughout the world. Do you think that it's a coincidence. I would appreciate everyone's opinion on both of these issues.

Well


In my opinion.


Due to the cold weather we have had this winter 2010/11.


Ponds and small lakes have frozen to the point that the ice has gotten so thick that , what water is left , the fish have used up their air supply and died.


My old man lost all the fish in his metal water butt fish tank over the allotment , for this reason. Too cold , the metal tank did'nt help none in stoping the ice from forming.


As for birds. They always suffer in hard winters. That is why it is always important to feed them through the winter months.

These things happen all the time, ask any wildlife biologist. I've seen bird die offs for various reasons. Because they flock, when something happens to one, it often happens to the entire flock.

Same for fish. Just like Toky said, anyone who lives or works near big rivers, lakes or the ocean has seen fish kills from time to time. In the Gulf of Mexico, there is a "dead zone" where there is little oxygen in the water. When this area moves, it can kill large numbers of animals.

This stuff just got picked up in the news cycle, and people post it on blogs and forums. And here we are.

Sometimes people are directly to blame, by using chemicals or poisons, but that's usually investigated by law enforcement. It doesn't sound like that was the case in any of the recent die-offs listed in the news.

Bob

There could be a number of reasons why the birds died. It could have been lightening or fireworks. I live in Oregon not very far from Lincoln City where there is a huge dead zone.

I thought that it was hilarious when I saw a program on TV that featured a dead whale in Oregon that was blown up, and blubber flew everywhere and everybody screamed.

How would people blow-up the whale and not have flying blubber? They really didn't think that one out!

What concerns me more than the dead birds and fish is the dying off of the bees. They are needed for the pollination of a number of crops. Many species have gone extinct, and many more will go extinct in the future. We need to be watchful and try to determine why this is happening and do our best to fix what we can.

I still think of Keiko the whale because he spent time in the Oregon Aquarium, and I got to go see him once. I wish that all wild animals could live in freedom.

I don't think any species of honey bee have recently gone extinct. None that have been attributed to Colony Collapse Disorder.

Last year, it was announced that many entomologists had come to think that the cause of CCD is the result of a combination of things. Hives that were sampled all showed the presence of both the Invertebrate Iridiscent Virus Type 6 and a one celled parasitic fungus called Nosema ceranae. It looks like this may be the cause of the majority of the bee hive collapses you referred to.

Bob

There are places like the Amazon that are being taken over for farm land, and it's been documented on television that certain species are either endangered or extinct. An example of extinction is the Golden Toad that is from Costa Rico and was last seen in 1989. More amphibians are in danger of becoming extinct. Another example of the extinction of an animal in the last 100 years or so is the Tasmanian Tiger in Tasmania. Hunters killed them for the fur and for sport, and there is no concrete evidence that any still exist anywhere. People are killing animals in the jungles of Africa for food, and a lot of animals throughout the world are taken for the pet trade.

The tiger was beautiful! It is a shame that it's gone. I hope they rediscover it like they have some fish and other animals