Coffee Pot Bayou Warning Signs Removed; Pelican Deaths Remain A Mystery

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — With water tests drawn from in and around the Coffee Pot Bayou area coming back within normal ranges, the city of St. Petersburg has removed warning signs from the shoreline. While folks are free once again to swim and fish in the waters, the mystery behind a rash of recent pelican deaths remains unanswered.

“The water quality is not in question in Coffee Pot Bayou,” John Palenchar, interim director of the city’s Water Resources Department, said in a Thursday statement. “And, we are working with all concerned to try and find out what made the birds sick.”

The city has sent a total of 17 brown pelicans to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s lab in Gainesville for necropsy since the birds started turning up dead or dying over the past week or so.

See also: St. Pete Pelican Deaths: Mystery Continues

Samples taken by FWC will be sent to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Georgia for further study, the city said in a Thursday statement. Some additional samples will be sent to FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg to test for algal toxins. Busch Gardens is also lending a hand in unraveling the mystery.

Earlier this week, the city announced it had also brought in an independent ecology group to assist with uncovering the cause of the pelican sickness. "There is no preconceived notion as to what may be going on out here," said Scott Lehman, Arcadis senior asset consultant. "Our intent is to be that third-party review to see if we find anything independent of what the city is finding."

Necropsy samples could take weeks to process. Additional water samples taken by Arcadis should be processed by early next week.

The city had put up warning signs earlier this week, asking people to stay out of the water in the Coffee Pot Bayou area as testing was under way. But, Palenchar said the water quality in Coffee Pot Bayou is “well within the parameters for recreational usage.”

Residents who see sick or dead birds or other wildlife are asked to report findings to FWC’s Fish Kill Hotline at 1-800-636-0511. The city is also posting updated information on its website at www.StPete.org.

Photo by Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge via Flickr used under Creative Commons