While scientists maintain there is no link between the events, the unexplained mass deaths of fish and birds across the globe has sparked widespread fear about an impending apocalypse, with chat forums and religious sites bombarded with questions about the "end of days".
Yesterday, there were reports of dead birds near Tyler, Texas in the United States, 40,000 devil crabs washed up dead on the Kent coast in England and thousands of dead fish were found in a freshwater creek in Florida.
New Zealand has been drawn into the web of speculation after the deaths of hundreds of snapper - washed up on Coromandel beaches this week - were matched by similar occurrences in both Brazil and Maryland, in the US.
The Baltimore Sun reported that an estimated 2 million fish were found dead in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay on Tuesday, with both adult and juvenile fish surfacing.
Maryland Department of the Environment spokesperson Dawn Stoltzfus told the Sun "cold-water stress" was believed to be the reason, saying similar mass winter fish deaths were documented in 1976 and 1980.
Meanwhile, ParanaOnline reported that 100 tons of sardines, croaker and catfish had washed up in Brazilian fishing towns since last Thursday. The cause of the deaths was unknown, with an imbalance in the environment, chemical pollution, or accidental release from a fishing boat all suggested by local officials.
Earlier, reports from the US said that, in the days prior to New Year, nearly 100,000 fish surfaced in an Arkansas river 160km west of Beebe.
New Zealand's snapper deaths were not able to be explained by the Department of Conservation. The Ministry of Fisheries, however, is also investigating and blamed it on a mass dumping or a split net.
The fish deaths, while unlikely to create a stir on their own, followed recent reports of dead birds falling from the sky in Arkansas and Louisiana, United States.
Thousands of dead birds were found in Beebe, Arkansas, on New Year's Eve. A few days later, around 500 of the same species were found in Louisiana, 480km south.
A Kentucky woman also reported finding dozens of dead birds scattered around her home, while on Wednesday, officials in Sweden found 50 dead birds on a street.
Louisiana state biologists are trying to determine what led to the deaths of the red-winged blackbirds and starlings, with State Wildlife veterinarian Jim LaCour telling the Daily Mail that lab tests could take several weeks to come up with an explanation.
LaCour refused to speculate on the cause of deaths - though others are blaming cold weather, fireworks and powerlines - but did say mass bird deaths have been known to occur in the state in the past, albeit in smaller numbers.
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He said "underlying disease, starvation and cold fronts where birds can't get their body heat up" have caused similar occurrences in various species over the years, the Mail reported.
Here a DOC spokesman said, while it was tempting to link the worldwide events together, each separate incident needed to be looked at individually before links were made.
"It may be a natural phenomenon, it may be due to the weather conditions but we don't know that."
DOC said La Nina weather patterns were expected to cause the deaths of hundreds of sea birds during the summer, as their food sources were depleted, but that scenario could not be linked to the snapper deaths.
It was unlikely a toxin had killed the snapper, as other fish would have also died, he said.
Meanwhile, while scientists work to find the causes, thousands of others are turning to a higher being for the answer to the mysteries, and interpreting the events as a sign from God.
Sites such as GodDiscussion have overflowed with viewers, receiving more than 15,000 hits in 18 hours on the topic, with the search terms "dead birds bible" and "dead birds revelation" still going strong.
Many searchers seek to link the deaths with the final judgment, the apocalypse and the coming of Jesus, GodDiscussion said.
The apocalypse, believed to be proceeded by the opening of seven "seals" and "signs" from God, is commonly thought to mark the end of the world.
However, GodDiscussion said dead birds and fish were not among the signs. More commonly, the signs were interpreted as events such as seas turning to blood, sores on people's bodies, plagues, infertility, world wars and earthquakes.
GodDiscussion has lost the plot thre are reports of rivers running red like blood .people of a recent tsunami are being struck by pandemics North Korea is fluffing up their feathers with threats of a nuclear bomb against anyone who whispers wrong against them ,more earthquakes ,volcanic activity than at anytime in the past ,I think they should look again and attempt to put revelations into more of a modern day theme its not 0001bc this is a modern world with a more modern outlook so obviously things will be different.
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