Thousands of dead common murres are washing up on the beaches of Whittier, an unprecedented die-off that has scientists wondering how many more thousands remain uncounted throughout Prince William Sound.
A recently retired federal biologist doing beach surveys in Whittier over the weekend estimated there were more than 7,800 dead murres along a little over a mile of beach. That's nearly five dead birds per meter of beach, officials say.
The recent discovery of the Prince William Sound die-off follows a highly unusual and sudden influx of disoriented, starving murres getting stranded inland over the past few weeks, a phenomenon that began in late fall but spiked in late December.