Spilled sewage suspected in St. Pete Beach bird die-off

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — A grisly discovery has alarmed environmental groups: 45 juvenile seabirds called black skimmers have been found dead along the beach over the past six weeks.

Volunteers who have been monitoring the mass die-off suspect the dumping of more than 1 million gallons of municipal sewage into Boca Ciega Bay has something to do with it.

“We fully expect more to die,” said Lorraine Margeson of the Florida Shorebird Alliance, who found the first bird carcass on Aug. 12.

An Eckerd College scientist who has been studying the state’s skimmer population for 16 years said the affected young birds go into convulsions, then flop over on their backs and die.

“This is the first time I have ever seen anything like this in Florida,” said Elizabeth Forys, a professor of environmental science and biology.

The cause of death could be salmonella, a virus or even Red Tide, Forys said. Each of those potential causes, she said, could be related to the dumping of sewage.

State wildlife officials are investigating and have sent samples from the dead skimmers to the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s Southeast Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study. The results from those tests, and from other tests being done by the state’s own wildlife laboratory in St. Petersburg, said state wildlife commission spokeswoman Susan Smith, “are still pending.”

Heavy rains in August prompted a number of Pinellas County cities to dump sewage into area waterways. Gulfport dumped 302,400 gallons into Boca Ciega Bay on Aug. 8.

Hurricane Hermine exacerbated the problem when its rains lashed the Florida peninsula earlier this month.

According to city public works director Don Sopak, an additional 892,500 gallons spilled Sept. 2, which is when the storm made landfall in North Florida.