One truck was driven outside a Kodiak Alaska seafood plant and 22 paid with their lives recently because of an oversight........... the retractable fabric cover had been left open.
When the truck loaded with fish waste was left open outside, fifty or more bald eagles swarmed in for a free meal. The birds became too soiled to either fly or clean themselves and with the temperatures near the mid-teens, they began to freeze to death. Others became too weak to struggle free and were crushed in the pile of refuse.
The truck was then brought back into the processing plant and the contents dumped out onto the floor when what was happeneing to the birds was realized. Some of them scattered and tried to escape but they were soon rounded up by the U S Fish and Wildlife Service.
The eagles were then washed off with dish soap in tubs of warm water to remove the slime and oil from their feathers. They were then taken to a heated fish and wildlife warehouse to recover, though some were reportedly in critical condition. Those that are strong enough will be returned to the wild when they are ready.
The birds that didn't survive will be shipped to a U S Department of Interior clearinghouse where their feathers will be available to Native American groups. Those groups can apply to be given the birds or their feathers for ceremonial purposes.
It was stated that requests for interviews from Ocean Beauty Seafoods officials were not returned. I doubt there is much that they can say that will explain how the cover on a truck was left open, that will make up for the loss of so many bald eagles...........especially after so much has been done to bring them back from the brink of extinction.
When the truck loaded with fish waste was left open outside, fifty or more bald eagles swarmed in for a free meal. The birds became too soiled to either fly or clean themselves and with the temperatures near the mid-teens, they began to freeze to death. Others became too weak to struggle free and were crushed in the pile of refuse.
The truck was then brought back into the processing plant and the contents dumped out onto the floor when what was happeneing to the birds was realized. Some of them scattered and tried to escape but they were soon rounded up by the U S Fish and Wildlife Service.
The eagles were then washed off with dish soap in tubs of warm water to remove the slime and oil from their feathers. They were then taken to a heated fish and wildlife warehouse to recover, though some were reportedly in critical condition. Those that are strong enough will be returned to the wild when they are ready.
The birds that didn't survive will be shipped to a U S Department of Interior clearinghouse where their feathers will be available to Native American groups. Those groups can apply to be given the birds or their feathers for ceremonial purposes.
It was stated that requests for interviews from Ocean Beauty Seafoods officials were not returned. I doubt there is much that they can say that will explain how the cover on a truck was left open, that will make up for the loss of so many bald eagles...........especially after so much has been done to bring them back from the brink of extinction.
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