OLYMPIA, WA - A seabird die-off on the Washington and northern Oregon Coast has abated. Now marine scientists are trying to understand the cause of the underlying algal bloom. Correspondent Tom Banse reports it remains mysterious.

Near Astoria, animal rescue workers at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast are resting easier. Volunteer April Des Combes says deliveries of dying loons, grebes, murres and sea ducks have trickled almost to a halt.

Des Combes: “It’s a lot quieter than it was a couple of days ago. We can actually breathe a little bit. There’s not so many people and birds here. So it’s quite a bit more calm than it was.”

Eyewitnesses on coastal beaches report a widespread soapy foam they’d seen earlier has also subsided. That foam stripped the natural waterproofing from the feathers of diving birds. Scientists are investigating an unusual algae bloom as the cause for all this. Theories for what triggered that bloom include a long stretch of dry weather earlier in the fall or a pulse of warm water in the ocean.

Copyright 2009 KUOW

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