Environmental scientists are now investigating how botulism outbreaks affect the waterbirds. This is after a great number of lifeless gulls, loons, and other waterfowls were found scattered again along the shores of the Great Lakes.
Recently, about 200 or 300 waterbirds were found dead in the Lake Ontario shore. The Department of Environmental Conservation blames Type E botulism for the deaths of the loons. However, they were bothered because the numbers were the highest recorded since 2006.
Though the food poisoning has been long identified to be caused by Type E botulism, scientists are still clueless on how the toxin affects the birds. According to U.S. Geological Survey, the Type E Botulism has already killed 100,000 birds in 2000.
With the use of time-tested methods and new technologies, researchers think that they are now close to solving the mysterious path of the toxin, which is an essential stage in determining if it can be prevented or cured.
The Florida Atlantic University, with their Institute for Ocean Systems Engineering, said that they are trying to determine the paths of birds that were washed onto the shore after dying in the open water. They placed the carcasses inside a laboratory tank and noted water resistance measurements. Previous and recent data will be combined in computer models to track the dead birds’ pathway.
Meanwhile, initial findings of different USGS laboratories that study waterfowl distribution and sampling sediments gathered from the Great Lakes suggest that those birds plunging into the water to catch fish may be getting infected more than what we thought.
David Blehert, a microbiologist with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, told the Wall Street Journal, “It's kind of like a detective story. You find a body somewhere. You want to find out where the incident took place. You look for clues on the body, you find a piece of hair, a piece of fiber, and trace it back to the location and hopefully find your culprit.”
Blehert added that if the quest to solving this mystery becomes successful, they could do applicable things for its prevention. However, “there may be very little we can actually do.”
