Topline
Washington, D.C.’s Department of Energy and the Environment is planning to conduct an investigation after multiple ducks were found dead at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the Washington Post first reported, after images of dead ducks and ducklings spread on social media—but experts are still unclear as to what killed the waterfowl.
A wildlife rehab center collected the dead ducks to conduct necropsies.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
City Wildlife, an animal rehab center, collected two of the dead ducks to conduct necropsies, the Post first reported.
The city’s Department of Energy and the Environment will handle the primary investigation, City Wildlife representative Chris-Anne Burton told Forbes when reached by phone (Forbes has contacted the DOEE for comment).
One possible culprit could be the ongoing algae bloom, which turned the pool a sickly green color last week—researchers told multiple outlets the algae bloom appears to be blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which is toxic to marine birds and other wildlife, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
National Parks Service workers were previously seen dumping hydrogen peroxide into the pool last week—however, this is a common treatment for pools, and Department of the Interior spokesperson Katie Martin previously told Forbes it had “no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment.”
The Department of the Interior did not return a request for comment from Forbes about the recent waterfowl deaths.
Key Background
President Donald Trump drained the Reflecting Pool in April in order to make significant renovations to the body of water first opened in 1922, including painting the basin “American Flag Blue.” However, when the pool was refilled in June, it quickly turned green once again when an algae bloom came back in force, which the Department of the Interior blamed on “residual” algae from supply lines filling the pool up with water from the Tidal Basin, a spokesperson told CNN. Martin told Forbes last week the Department of the Interior was using “nanobubbler” technology to treat the algae, which was now “dead and being vacuumed up as we speak.” Visitors soon saw large chunks of the new paint were soon seen peeling from the bottom of the basin, which Trump blamed on “vandalism.”
Surprising Fact
Trump has consistently admonished the Obama and Biden administrations for spending “over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked,” even insisting “it was rarely open due to leaks and ‘stench.’” Biden never worked on any major renovations to the pool, according to an Associated Press fact check, while Obama spent about $34 million on renovations. In a similar turn of events, the algae bloom returned to the Reflecting Pool just weeks after Obama’s renovations in 2012. Trump claims his administration spent about $16 million in total to repairs to the pool and the surrounding area.