Dead ducks, fish at downtown Chicago harbor prompt calls for investigation
'It's not a good look for the city: the trash, the scum on the surface, the dead fish and water fowl'
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Volunteers with Chicago Bird Collision Monitors say they have reported multiple dead birds and fish at DuSable Harbor to state wildlife officials and are seeking answers about what may be causing the deaths.
Timothy Dooling, who visits the harbor to watch wildlife, said he returned after a storm at the end of July and found several dead ducks floating in the water, northeast of Millennium Park in Lake Michigan.
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"There were maybe five ducks dead at that point, floating in different points in the harbor," Dooling said.
Dooling said he has since seen several more dead ducks floating near vegetation in water littered with debris. He said he reported what he saw to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and contacted Chicago Bird Collision Monitors.
Oli Yuzlenko, a volunteer with the organization, met Dooling at the harbor last week. She said she saw multiple dead birds as well as dead fish. Yuzlenko said she recovered a sick duck Tuesday that died hours later.
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The birds are transported to a wildlife center in DuPage County, but Yuzlenko said the center does not have the resources to conduct testing. She said she also contacted IDNR.
"We can only speculate because there is no test done. It could be chemicals; it could be naturally occurring toxin that started building up," Yuzlenko said.
Yuzlenko said testing is needed to determine what is causing the deaths. She said the deaths have continued into a third week.
"Maybe not everybody needs to care about the birds but there are people who do and this is not just a one-off incident. It's a very concentrated event," Yuzlenko said.
Dooling said the conditions at the harbor are troubling beyond the wildlife deaths.
"I'd say it's not a good look for the city: the trash, the scum on the surface, the dead fish and water fowl," Dooling said.
The IDNR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
