The End is Nigh....

OK, maybe a little over dramatic and I know this happens all the time around the world and the more reasonable scientific thinkings behind them all, but thinking about 2012, predictions and of course all the goings on over the past few weeks, one cannot help but wonder.....
Over 1000 Turtle Doves fall from Sky in Italy (although poison suspected)
Turtle Doves
Dozens of Jackdaws die in Sweden
Jackdaws found dead
Over 2 million fish wash up dead on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay
2 million fish wash up in Chesapeake Bay
40,000 Velvet crabs wash up on Kent shore, UK
40,000 crabs found dead, UK.

No Tan, you've got it all wrong......the words to the song are 'The tide is high' LOL

It is rather mad when you look through those and realise who widespread and prevalent these occurrences are, although increased media coverage these days means that its more in the limelight then ever before. Mass animal deaths are one subject covered in Ripley's Believe It Or Not, books on Natural Enigmas etc. and its probably more common Worldwide than many believe.

The explanations for the marine animals seems the most plausible out of them all, as water currents are constantly changing and anything out of the norm, especially if the change happens suddenly, can cause mass mortalities among more sensitive species. There are other possibilities of course like mass poisoning, mass population death through disease or mass death due to having spawned recently and having reached the end of their lives. Some of these explanations don't hold when multiple species are found in one spot though.

The bird deaths are the real enigma.....although it is interesting that in the States it is mainly blackbird species that have been found. At this time of the year they flock en mass and so the most likely cause would seem to be either mass poisoning or mass exposure to disease.......neither of which would explain them all dropping within such a short time of each other. All the species so far found are naturally grain / fruit eaters at this time of year, so perhaps thats a common denominator that provides a clue. Another natural wonder we've yet to understand.

we could start a really funny missheard lyric thread with that one.

I was thinking the same thing Tan