Birds and eels cooked and crooked as temperatures soar

Photo: Wikipedia.

Hauraki iwi have joined a multi-agency effort to clear away dead birds from the lower Piako River area killed by a botulism outbreak.

Mailee Stanbury, DOC’s senior biodiversity ranger for Hauraki, says the Kopuatai Peat Wetland and the Firth of Thames mudflats are being put at risk by the outbreak and a suspected algal bloom, brought on by hot summer temperatures.

Since January have collected more than 3500 birds killed by botulism, including not only large numbers of ducks but, but protected species including shags, spoonbills, herons, harriers, stilts, banded dotterels, and Caspian terns.

DOC has also been finding and rehabilitating shorebirds at Pukorokoro, Miranda and Thames affected by the suspected algal bloom.

Meanwhile, low water levels mean large numbers of eels have been trapped in drains and canals along the lower Piako River, where water temperatures have been getting up to more than 29 degrees.

Ms Stanbury says there is no quick fix to the problem, but action needs to be taken including planting shade trees along the northern bank of waterways to lower water temperatures, allowing the tide to naturally flush the various tidal waterways which feed into the Firth, providing fish passages around flood gates, and limiting agricultural and industrial discharges into waterways.

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