Beach walkers found dead birds washing up on the sand on the morning of June 25 — not sea birds but the headless remains of chickens and ducks.
Ocean Ridge police scoured the town beach after receiving reports from beachgoers and collected the carcasses of four dead chickens along a 2-mile stretch of beach south of Boynton Inlet.
“So far, this appears to be a localized incident,” Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins said, adding that neighboring towns received no reports of dead birds on their beaches.
Hutchins said he also received reports of bird carcasses being spotted by boaters about half a mile offshore.
Hutchins and others speculated that the bird carcasses could have been discarded after a religious sacrifice such as those practiced in Santeria, a religion common in Caribbean countries in which animals are sacrificed to build relationships with the spirit.
Hutchins, a lifelong boater, noted that ocean currents could have swept the bird carcasses to the beach from points far away.
“Things travel quite a great distance in the ocean,” he said.
— Willie Howard
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