WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — The number of seabirds coated by a mysterious goo in eastern San Francisco Bay has grown to 25 birds dead and 154 being treated, officials reported Monday.
The state gave a count Sunday afternoon of 20 dead birds and another 69 being treated at the International Bird Rescue Center near Fairfield.
More ducks and other seabirds were found in distress Sunday and Monday by bird rescue center volunteers, who have largely taken over the search and rescue mission begun Friday by state wardens and oil spill experts.
The source of the sticky goo that prevents feathers from keeping birds warm has not been determined. State officials have ruled out petroleum as a cause.
“It’s still a mystery,” said Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Our lab will be working to identify the material when it reopens Tuesday (after the holiday).”
He cautioned, however, that it could take days to identify the material.
Sick or dying seabirds have been found since Friday on San Francisco Bay and its shoreline near the San Leandro Marina, Hayward Regional Shoreline and portions of Alameda.
Most of the victims are surf scoters, large, stocky diving ducks; buffleheads, a small, energetic diving duck; and horned grebes, small fish-eating birds with thick tufts along the side of their faces.
Coated seabirds have been found weak, groggy and unable to fly. Some dragged themselves to the shoreline and collapsed.
The International Bird Rescue Center was expecting Monday for more birds to be brought in.
Some of the newest arrivals were very weak after having the sticky substance on their feathers for days, said Barbara Callahan, the rescue center’s interim executive director.
“The good news is that we have modified our wash protocol, and it appears to be working on healthier birds,” Callahan wrote in a statement.
The nonprofit rescue center has shouldered the costs to clean and care for the birds because no one responsible for the goo has been identified.
Likewise, center volunteers on Sunday and Monday were supplying the bulk of the labor to search for more birds on the East Bay shoreline and take any coated birds to the center in Fairfield.
“The volunteers have been doing a great job,” said Hughan.
