00:02Two weeks ago, Victoria's first case of H5 bird flu was detected here in Portland.
00:09Today, the town's beaches are littered with carcasses.
00:13I've just counted 24 dead birds, and the same thing on Sunday.
00:19We went for a walk on this beach, the same number.
00:21To see as many birds as we did this morning, it was just like, what do we do here?
00:25Joshua Pearce has been watching the number of dead birds around Portland climb rapidly,
00:30but says disposing of them has become a problem.
00:34You'll often see silver gulls and other birds coming right up to those corpses,
00:38and that's a very real vector risk, and then it just keeps spreading.
00:43Today, he's met up with two volunteers who have come to the beach in masks and gloves to pick up
00:49dead terns.
00:51Many of them would be more than happy to take care of these birds,
00:54remove them, of course, and dispose of them in a safe way,
00:57but that does put a bit of an unfair onus onto the community.
01:00But just how to dispose of the dead birds has left locals confused.
01:05Some have been told by authorities to double bag the dead birds and put them in the bin,
01:10while others, who don't have access to landfill rubbish collection,
01:13have told the ABC they've resorted to burning or burying the birds.
01:18There should be some authority telling us what to do. We don't know what to do.
01:23The ABC approached the Victorian Department of Environment for comment,
01:27but did not receive a response by deadline.
01:30I have every confidence that all of our agriculture,
01:34chief veterinarian staff are doing everything they can to protect our wildlife
01:38in what is a very critical juncture.
01:41We've heard and heard and heard that we're prepared for it,
01:44but there doesn't seem to be anything from authorities coming to show that they're prepared for that.
01:53I said that they're ready to have an environmental concern for us to do this.
01:56I know I'm having a bad voice on the system that's done,
01:56but it's not just for me.
01:56I'm not mad.
01:56It's not scary.
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