Dead common murres line the shores of Southcentral Alaska, including Valdez.  The murre die-off was starting to be noticed from Alaska to California last summer but has recently spiked dramatically.  Murres normally spend the winter off-shore but have stayed close to shores with some moving inland this year- even as far Fairbanks.

The Valdez Animal Shelter provided advice for anyone wanting to aid the murres.  The murres are dehydrated and disoriented.  They land wherever they are when they’re fully exhausted.  They don’t usually land on solid ground because they can only take off from the water.  The best thing that can be done for them is to take them by smaller creeks.  They can drink and rehydrate and, if they gain enough strength, take off with the available water.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has offered different advice, saying to leave the birds where they are.  To see their information, CLICK HERE.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a boat out in Prince William Sound and is conducting a survey of the situation while biologists are in the field counting dead murres.