A warning to residents to stay away from a lake in Canberra caused quite a stir on this day in 1985.
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Lake Ginninderra was suspected to be contaminated after residents reported sightings of dozens of dead birds and fish in and around the lake.
A wildlife biologist with the Department of Territories, Dr Mike Braysher, said a pesticide could have been dumped in the lake or have come through a storm drain.
This was after original theories were floated that rat poison around the lake could be causing the deaths.
"We are still carrying out investigations," Dr Braysher said.
"We are not sure if it's the rat poison - I think it's something to do with the water."
26 birds, including ducks, moorhens, mudlarks, coots and a magpie, had been picked up.
Braysher said that if a pesticide had caused the deaths, it would have been difficult to identify because of the range available.
The nearby John Knight Memorial Park was a popular play area for children, and this was the main concern with the possibility of rat poison being the cause of contamination.
