Around 8,000 dead common murres — one of North America's abundant seabirds — were found dead along a one-mile stretch near Whittier, Alaska this month, all apparently killed by starvation. Although seabird die-offs have occurred in past years, biologists are alarmed by the staggering number of dead birds found this winter.

“I never thought I would see that many dead birds on one beach,” David Irons, a retired seabird biologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, told ThinkProgress.

Researchers say the cause of the birds' starvation remains uncertain, although climate factors may be involved. In addition to the starvation deaths, researchers have noticed unusual behaviour among the murres in Alaska over the past year. Although the birds usually have a breeding success rate of 50 to 60 per cent, surveys of breeding colonies in the region last summer showed no murres set up nests, leading to a total reproductive failure.