Around 1,500 dead birds have been found on Ukraine`s Bolshoi Dzendzik Island near the Berdyansk spit on the Azov Sea, the Ukrainian emergencies ministry said on Saturday.

Most of the birds were cormorants, but a large number of herring gulls were also found.

Specialists from the local veterinary office have taken samples for laboratory testing to establish the cause of the death of the birds.
sections: Nature & Health, World News