TORONTO, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Canadian officials are investigating why as many as 6,000 dead seagulls and other birds have washed up on the shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario.
In September, residents of Wasaga Beach reported seeing a higher than usual number of dead fish on the beach, but since then, the scenario has changed, CTV News reported.
The broadcaster showed video of a beach with thousands of dead and dying birds in the sand.
Ontario Provincial Police Constable Peter Leon told the broadcaster as many as 6,000 dead birds were strewn across a 2-mile stretch of the bay off Lake Huron.
Officials with the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources said preliminary examinations suggest the fish and bird deaths could be the result of botulism introduced by zebra mussels brought into the Great Lakes by freighters returning from Asia.
The mussels host and spread the deadly bacteria.
There wasn't any indication from provincial officials Saturday night as to how the rotting birds would be collected.
