People living near a lake said they have been left “broken” and “devastated” following the death of a swan family.
Canvey Lake in Essex had two resident swans who had nine cygnets this year, two of which were killed by foxes and four others were taken to South Essex Wildlife Hospital in June where one later died from avian botulism.
The remaining three cygnets, along with their mother and father, were taken to the wildlife hospital on Tuesday after concerns over the deteriorating condition of Canvey Lake and died on Friday.
Martin England, 62, a Friends of Canvey Lake committee member, described the situation as an “environmental disaster”.
Sue Schwar, the founder of South Essex Wildlife Hospital, said she was “100% sure” the deaths had been caused by exposure to blue-green algae.
Hayley Cockayne, 50, who lives in Canvey, said: “I’m absolutely broken. I’m devastated. I’ve spent four or five hours with them daily for the past three years.
“I always said this year we would lose all the wildlife on this lake and I knew it was coming but it didn’t make it any easier to accept.”
In 1998 Canvey Lake was officially registered as a Local Nature Reserve by the Canvey Island Town Council to protect its wildlife and improve site standards.
Cockayne said the lake was “dead” and it was “absolutely unacceptable”, adding: “You’ve got not a lot of birds on it and just several floating in it dead.”
