Authorities on Tuesday removed dead waterfowl from a waterway in Victoria after visitors to the area reported finding scores of carcasses over the past few weeks.
Photos of the operation show EcoGozo officials in biohazard clothing collecting dead birds and placing them into plastic bags.
A crane operated by Civil Protection Department (CPD) officers was used to help officials reach the waterway below street level where the dead birds were spotted.
The reason for the deaths had not been established at the time of publication, but a Gozo Ministry spokesperson said one of the carcasses was being examined by a vet while samples of the water were being tested by the Public Health Directorate.
Over the past few weeks, scores of dead waterfowl – including ducks and geese – were discovered floating in the waterway adjacent to Triq is-Sellum.
Posting on Facebook, one resident said more than 100 birds had died in the past few weeks with around 50 in the water as of Monday, though Times of Malta has been unable to verify this claim.
Videos posted by the same user show at least 20 dead birds in the waterway.
Resident and environmental collective MALTA-ARCH co-founder Dawn Adrienne Saliba said she had been shocked by the numbers of dead animals in the pond, which she said had been “growing every day”.
Saliba said she had counted nine dead ducks and a dead rat in the water on one day alone, along with two dead hedgehogs in a nearby field. She added that she had not seen any live chicks in the area since the deaths began.
“Some of us [residents] reported the issue to authorities and though a dozen or so bird carcasses were removed a week ago, more have been accumulating and we have received no information as to the cause of these deaths,” she said.
Calling for the results of the autopsies and water tests to be made public, Saliba stressed people “shouldn’t be feeding these birds white bread and cat food” – which she claimed had been discovered in the area – and called for steps to be taken to prevent contamination of the water.
“This is not just a local environmental concern; it is a potential public health crisis... We certainly don't need poisonous toxins or dangerous bacteria to infiltrate Malta’s food supply”, she said.
"Outbreaks in agricultural areas containing bacteria like E. Coli, Salmonella, and Listeria have caused much illness and even fatalities", said Saliba, adding fields close to the site were being used to grow vegetables.
Acknowledging that while “several ducks” had died in the water over the past few weeks, a Gozo Ministry spokesperson said the cause “remains unknown and is difficult to determine at this time.”
He added that while a carcass had been sent to a vet for further investigation, “it is not always guaranteed that the cause [of death] can be established.”
The spokesperson said previous tests of the water by the Public Health Directorate had yielded “no abnormalities that could explain the ducks' deaths”, adding that while an algae bloom was present in the water – photos show the water coloured green – it was “not considered a cause for concern.”
Asked if nearby agricultural fields were supplied by the waterway, he said the ministry did not hold the information. The spokesperson added that other litter and other materials were also collected from the site on Tuesday.