About 100 dead squirrels have washed up on a Lake Michigan beach in recent weeks

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. - Dead squirrels have been washing up on a Lake Michigan beach at a state park.

Experts believe the squirrels drowned while trying to cross the Grand River and then flowed to the lake and Grand Haven State Park.

Nick Kalejs, a wildlife biologist at the Muskegon State Game Area, estimates about 100 squirrels in recent weeks.

Lake Michigan

Kalejs says it's "always distressing" to see dead animals but people shouldn't be alarmed.

Squirrels can swim, he said, but “clearly not all of them make it.”

The effort to get across the river could be related to food scarcity.