Man-Made Lake Cause Of Many Dead Birds, Fish

For the first time in months, the murky water of California’s largest lake is free of 20,000 dead birds felled by a mysterious disease, federal researchers said. The birds, including 20 percent of the state’s endangered brown pelican population, are believed to have died at the 242,000-acre Salton Sea. And it’s not a matter of whether there will be another disaster - but when.

“It will occur,” said Clark Bloom, refuge manager of the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge about 160 miles southeast of Los Angeles. “I don’t know if it will be the same magnitude, but it’s a problem that won’t go away.”

Massive die-offs of both fish and birds have repeatedly plagued the lake that was created in the early 1900s by water-hungry developers who made an ill-conceived cut in the Colorado River.

Its wetlands have become one of North America’s most important rest stops for millions of migratory birds.

More than 14,000 of the dead birds were removed from Aug. 15-Nov. 15, and buried in mass graves. About 1,000 sick birds were taken to a rehabilitation center. So far, about 300 of those have died and only 350 have been released back into the wild.

“I can’t think of any event anywhere that has killed so many endangered species,” said Milt Friend, director of the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis.

Scientists realized during the die-off that the 242,000-acre lake is understudied. They also found that they were dealing with sick fish as well as dying birds.

The strongest theory suggests the birds were infected by the fish, primarily tilapia, who were rotting alive from bacterial infections. But did the fish get sick as a result of the sea’s rising salinity, bacteria, pollution, temperature or other factors?

The sea is 35 miles long by 15 miles wide at its widest point. Runoff from nearby farms provides water to the closed-end lake. Water only escapes through evaporation, further concentrating salts and other contaminants in the water which is 30 percent saltier than the Pacific Ocean.

Researchers hope to study the lake’s entire ecosystem - but that could cost millions of dollars. They hope the latest disaster will bring some attention - and funds - to the sea’s problems.