More dead ducks wash up on Grand Manan shore

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans returned to Seal Cove on Grand Manan a second time to collect more dead ducks that washed up on shore.

The department confirmed it visited the island on Monday after reports that another 100 dead eider ducks were found in Seal Cove, where a resident had discovered about 30 dead ducks just a week before.

Bonnie French, who found the first group of ducks, learned about the new discovery from a Facebook post. While she didn't see the second group of ducks herself, she said she saw Fisheries and Oceans collecting some of them. 

"It was just mind-blowing, really. It was super sad," she said. "I was shocked at the 32 and even more shocked at the hundred plus."

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans assisted the Canadian Wildlife Service in collecting dead ducks on the shore of Seal Cove on Monday. It also helped the federal organization collect samples when dead ducks were first discovered a week ago.

A spokesperson wouldn't confirm how many were collected on Monday. 

Jim Wilson, a naturalist and birder who lives in Quispamsis, has friends on the island. He said eider ducks are common in the Bay of Fundy.

When the first group of ducks were found, he suggested that some be kept and set aside for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Wildlife Service. When he heard about the second group of ducks, he reached out to the Canadian Wildlife Service to let it know about it.

Wilson called the situation unusual.

"We know that these common eider ducks are long-lived," he said. "All these sea ducks are probably 20, 30 years, maybe even longer of age. And it takes a lot to do one in."

Wilson said it's strange the birds are only showing up in Seal Cove and not on other beaches. He thinks the severe winter weather likely isn't enough to cause so many mortalities — he called eiders big, tough birds, whose feathers are harvested in some countries for clothing because they provide high-quality insulation.

There are even some in the Arctic, he said, so the cold wouldn't bother them.

"They're very well equipped to withstand weather," he said.

Wilson said he's curious about what could have killed the ducks.

"It's kind of ominous. You wonder what's going on."

CBC News asked for an update on the investigation from the Canadian Wildlife Service, which falls under Environment and Climate Change Canada, but no information was provided in time for publication.