ENE News Update: Dead Fish, Wildlife In Aleutians May Be Victims Of Toxic Algae Outbreak

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/07/27/algal-bloom-to-blame-for-dying-wildlife-in-the-aleutians/

Dead Fish, Wildlife In Aleutians May Be Victims Of Toxic Algae Outbreak

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/07/27/algal-bloom-to-blame-for-dying-wildlife-in-the-aleutians/ 

 

 

 Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, July 2015: Pursuing Cause of Death in Gulf of Alaska Whales… Over the next six weeks more large whale mortalities were reported by mariners and pilots. Kate Wynne and Bree Witteveen began gathering NOAA Stranding Network data… a total of 10 fin whale and 8 humpback mortalities have been documented… Both whale species feed in groups on small fish and invertebrates, filtering them with their baleen… Wynne, Witteveen, and other biologists have pursued many possible human-influenced and natural causes, but as of mid-July the cause of death remains unknown… Biotoxins caused by warm water–induced harmful algal blooms are a possibility, although tissue from the sampled fin whale tested for domoic acid came back negative… Scientists have followed up on other possible causes… even radionuclides from the Fukushima reactor…. To pursue the radionuclide possibility Wynne submitted a muscle tissue sample from a dead fin whale for Cesium 137 analysis, with results pending… Wynne and Witteveen complimented the professional network of bird, fish, and mammal biologists in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bristol Bay–Bering Sea area, who have reported unusual events since the mortalities.