As many as 50 birds have died after landing in tailings areas at the Kearl oilsands site near Fort McMurray, Imperial Oil said Tuesday. Over several days since April 26, more than 100 birds have landed in tailings areas, company spokesperson Jon Harding said in an email to CBC News. The birds were primarily grebes and shorebird and most landed in open water areas. Harding said the birds landed in a space with deterrent systems in place, such as radar detection, noise cannons, eye-safe lasers, scarecrows and long-range acoustic devices. "The landings were most likely influenced by near freezing precipitation, which historically has resulted in migrating birds landing on such areas due to exhaustion."

Source: CBC News May 06, 2020 00:56 UTC