Dead squid latest shoreline find, Humber River, Newfoundland

October 25, 2011

Gary Kean
The Western Star

CORNER BROOK — First it was hundreds of Atlantic saury found dead on the shores of the Humber Arm, then it was at least two lifeless blue sharks washing ashore in the outer Bay of Islands.

These dead squid were just a portion of what was found along the mouth of the Humber River Sunday, Oct. 24, 2011..

Now it seems squid are the latest casualty of a mass kill of marine life in the area this month.

Keith Piercey of Corner Brook was out for one of his regular walks near the mouth of the Humber River Sunday when he noticed a crow picking at something on the beach. Closer inspection revealed the bird was munching on a squid.

Piercey looked around and saw several more squid — all of them dead — in the general vicinity.

“The squid were spread out a fair bit and, of course, I could only see what was on or close to shore,” said Piercey. “I saw them in the area as far as the fence area behind the Noton property. I couldn’t go past that. Also, there were some in the cove opposite the (former gypsum) plant. It’s really hard to say how many — certainly, of what I did see, they were well dispersed and none were alive.”

Piercey said there was a large school of sand lance in the estuary Sunday and thought the squid may have chased the small fish deep into the bay.

A spokesperson for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said it is not uncommon for squid to wash ashore, sometimes in large numbers, and the squid may have fell victim to the same fate as the schools of Atlantic saury earlier this month.

The death of the saury, a small, pelagic bait fish, was attributed to exposure to fresher water found in the upper column of the salty Humber Arm.

“Water temperature changes, following prey, being chased by predators, and other factors can cause squid to end up washing ashore,” said the spokesperson via email Monday. “All three species (saury, blue shark and squid) … are pelagic and could be impacted by some of the same environmental conditions; however we cannot speculate on what occurred in this specific instance.”

Environment Canada’s Environmental Stewardship Branch and Environmental Protection Operations Directorate have been notified of the incident as per their interagency agreement to ensure timely and appropriate response to natural and pollution-related fish kills in Atlantic Canada.

thewesternstar.com

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