St. Pete Pelican Deaths: Mystery Continues

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — As the city of St. Petersburg works with other agencies to unravel the mystery behind a rash of recent pelican deaths, initial water tests from the two affected areas have shown no abnormalities, officials report.

According to the city, water samples drawn from Coffee Pot Bayou and Riviera Bay showed nothing of concern.

“From all we've seen, the water there is in overall good shape," said Interim Water Resources Director John Palenchar. "But we will continue testing, and so the signs will stay up for a while."

The signs Palenchar is referring to are warnings against swimming or fishing in bodies of water from the shoreline at North Shore Park through to Coffee Pot Bayou. Those signs have gone up in the wake of more than a dozen pelican deaths and sicknesses.

The city’s public works department reported Wednesday that its workers have collected 15 dead or dying pelicans since Jan. 12.

Late last week, a cold-weather fish kill was reported near Riviera Bay Lake. This occurrence coincided by reports of sick pelicans, the city noted in a Tuesday, Jan. 17 email. Even so, “we have not yet determined if there is a connection between the fish kill in Riviera Bay and the pelicans found sick or dead in other parts of the city,” said John Norris, the city’s director for stormwater, pavement and traffic operations.

Norris’ crew removed more than a ton of dead fish from the lake after the fish kill, the city noted.

The city is working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to investigate the cause of the pelican deaths. On Tuesday, St. Petersburg officials also announced an independent ecologist had been brought in to help with the investigation.

"We want to have experts evaluating this," Palenchar said Tuesday. "Independently tasked to find out - as soon as possible - what's causing this."

Just how soon more information will be available is unclear.

Residents who see sick or dead birds or other wildlife are asked to report findings to FWC’s Fish Kill Hotline at 1-800-636-0511. The city is also posting updated information on its website at www.StPete.org.

Photo by Matthias Liffers via Flickr used under Creative Commons