A report released in February and authored by a group of researchers from various organizations, including the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), California Department of Fish and Game, and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, supports concerns Californians have had about the aerial spraying of pesticides in the Monterey Bay area in 2007. The study shows the correlation of the unprecedented bird die off and red tide with the timing of the spraying of the pesticide Checkmate.

The authors of the study reported the birds had a "slimy yellow-green material on their feathers" and that the cause of death was due to "surfactant-like proteins, derived from organic matter of the red tide, [that] coated their feathers and neutralized natural water repellency and insulation." The birds were unable to maintain buoyancy and drowned.

While the researches commented on the foam as being attributed to red tide, the foam was in fact also seen in rivers after the pesticide spraying, and found by a San Jose State University researcher to be filled with microcapsules associated with the spray. Many residents within the spray zone remember the yellowish foamy substance on their windows, decks, and planter boxes left by the spray. Read more

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