FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta, May 2 (UPI) -- Canadian environmental officials in Alberta were trying Friday to determine how many ducks were in peril from oil baths in an oil refiner's tailing pond.

Environment Canada officials were alerted this week an oil-soaked duck had been found almost 200 miles away from the pond in the northern city of Fort McMurray, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported.

An estimated 500 ducks died after landing in the petroleum tailings pond owned by Syncrude Canada.

Company spokesman Alain Moore said the company did everything it could to deter the flock from landing in the contaminated water.

"When we got our boats on the water on Tuesday, our first effort was to scare those birds away," Moore told the CBC.

Samples from the duck found further north were being analyzed Friday to determine if the oil matched that from the Syncrude pond, the report said.