It wasn’t just the weather that caused hundreds of birds to wash up on local beaches

Hundreds of dead birds washed up on our beaches and we finally know why.

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Great Shearwater Birds were found debilitated and emaciated, but experts say it wasn’t just because of bad weather.

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The Florida Wildlife Hospital found plastic and parasites inside their stomachs.

“It’s very sad to see so many deceased, it’s tough,” Florida Wildlife Hospital Executive Director Tracy Frampton said.

Hundreds of migratory birds found beached along the Florida coast.

“It was a large stranding event,” Florida Wildlife Hospital veterinarian Dr. April Geer said.

The hospital in Brevard County took in dozens of Shearwaters in during a three-day period. Most of them died.

Last month, Action News Jax Annette Gutierrez spoke with Ark Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, who said they received over 200 calls sick or dead shearwaters.

ORIGINAL STORY: Wildlife experts investigating birds washing up on shore

“We’ve had to stop taking them in because we got so overwhelmed,” Ark Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Mary Foulks had told Gutierrez in June.

They typically fly up here this time of year, but experts say they’ve never seen so many die on the way.

“For them to wash to shore, they most of them were pretty debilitated and unable to feed, which is why they just couldn’t fight it,” Frampton said. “So that would have been preventing them from being able to feed.”

Dr. Geer said they found parasites and a significant amount of plastic debris inside them.

“To the point in some that it would have been enough to basically be like an impaction,” Dr. Geer said.

Dr. Geer said there was a major storm that weakened them, but the plastic was one of the contributing factors.

RELATED STORY: Local bird rescue provides update to ‘tragic bird die-off’ at Jacksonville beaches

“One of things about Jacksonville beach, that’s nice is just being able to experience nature on a daily basis,” Jax Beach resident Ann Haynes said. “And it’s really tragic that birds would die from plastic inside them and not be able to live a free life.”

Her husband added on to say, “I don’t think it’s surprising because I think all the marine life is affected -- people are just not very careful about discarding their garbage and this is the inevitable consequence.”

The pollution poses a threat to the bird’s existence, so experts say this was a major wake-up call.

“If we can’t change the trajectory of our plastic, we’re probably going to see more events such as this,” Frampton said.

Now, they’re calling on everyone to pick up their trash and recycle.

Because of the overwhelming response, The Arc Wildlife Rescue and Rehab and the Florida Wildlife Hospital are taking donations.

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