700 whales have died in the last three weeks amid “unprecedented” deaths of millions of birds around the world, according to reports.
Nearly 500 whales were found dead in ‘heartbreaking’ New Zealand strandings. The whales had beached themselves on the Chatham Islands, Sky News reports.
Around the same time, 200 stranded pilot whales were found dead on Tasmania’s west coast, according to a report by The Guardian.
Meanwhile, nearly 100 million birds are dying in “unprecedented” numbers around the globe:
“47 Million birds killed due to avian flu in Europe – ‘unprecedented’ – An unprecedented number of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus [HPAI] detections were reported in wild and domestic birds from June to September in Europe … with a total of 2,467 outbreaks in poultry and 47.7 million birds culled in affected establishments. In addition, 187 detections were notified in captive birds and 3,573 HPAI events were recorded in wild birds.” (Source)
“50 Million birds killed due to avian flu in America – ‘unprecedented’ – After proliferating globally, a historic wave of avian flu has entered Southern California … Authorities describe the surge as ‘unprecedented’ in scope, breadth and lethality. In North America alone, an estimated 50 million birds have succumbed, which experts say is probably a vast undercount. And though government officials are primarily concerned about poultry farms, the epidemic has struck wild birds, too – from waterfowl to raptors and vultures.” (Source)