The California Department of Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ) reports that thousands of water birds have died recently at the Salton Sea.

Laboratory testing identified an outbreak of avian cholera as the cause. CDFW said that on January 8 they started receiving reports of hundreds of dead birds at the south end of the Salton Sea from local waterfowl hunters and staff at the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge. CDFW personnel discovered over a thousand bird carcasses around Bruchard Bay west of the New River. Over the next week , more than 1,200 carcasses , mostly Ruddy Ducks , Northern Shovelers , Black-necked Stilts and Gulls , were found. Most carcasses were incinerated to reduce the spread of the disease. CDFW says that outbreaks like this one occur annually as a result of birds flocking closely together during migration.

CDFW staff will continue monitoring and collecting carcasses around the Salton Sea over the next few weeks.