Photos: Massive murre die-off in Southcentral Alaska

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Dead murres line a beach in Prince William Sound the first week of January, 2016.

Thousands of dead common murres are washing up on the beaches of Whittier, an unprecedented die-off that has scientists wondering how many more thousands remain uncounted throughout Prince William Sound.

A recently retired federal biologist doing beach surveys in Whittier over the weekend estimated there were more than 7,800 dead murres along a little over a mile of beach. That's nearly five dead birds per meter of beach, officials say.

The recent discovery of the Prince William Sound die-off follows a highly unusual and sudden influx of disoriented, starving murres getting stranded inland over the past few weeks, a phenomenon that began in late fall but spiked in late December.

READ MORE: Massive murre die-off lines Whittier beaches with carcasses