MS NOW hosts Jen Psaki and Chris Hayes expressed sadness at the dead ducks that have been found amid President Donald Trump’s renovation of the Reflecting Pool, although Hayes noted potentially exculpatory context about the chemicals used to fight algae in the pool.

The president’s Reflecting Pool project has been beset by mishap and failure, much of which he has tried to blame on others, and has now resulted in security cameras and fences being erected around it.

Then there are the dead ducks.

During the toss to Tuesday’s edition of MS NOW’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, Psaki bummed Hayes out by bringing up the waterfowl fatalities around the Reflecting Pool. Psaki noted that “autopsies” are pending, and Hayes presented some chemistry info about the hydrogen peroxide that has been used to fight against the algae:

MS NOW HOST CHRIS HAYES: Good evening, Jen.

MS NOW HOST JEN PSAKI: All right, Chris, there is a lot of politics to talk about and we’re gonna talk about a lot about it, but there were dead ducks in the Reflecting Pool that is green and full of algae.

And I am not a medical expert. I don’t have any information on the autopsy, but it all feels really bad here.

MS NOW HOST CHRIS HAYES: I did, I have to say, I spent way too much time trying to read into the chemistry the whole thing.

And I did read from some people that do know about this, that like peroxide is the least toxic thing you can put in there, it breaks down very quickly.

So I don’t know, but I can’t imagine all that peeling rubbery stuff is good for the wildlife.

MS NOW HOST JEN PSAKI: Me neither. I don’t, we may never know, but it doesn’t feel good. But good thing we have other good things to talk about.

I appreciate you’re always bringing some nerdiness to the convo. It’s delightful. Have a good night.

There are actually three ducks in question — one that was depicted in a viral photograph in the Reflecting Pool, and two that were found in the nearby Constitution Gardens pond.

City Wildlife, the group that submitted samples for the two ducks that were found, sent a statement to WUSA noting that there are no known remains for the duck from the Reflecting Pool, and cautioned against jumping to conclusions:

“City Wildlife routinely conducts necropsies on ducks found deceased on the National Mall when the cause of death is unknown. We have submitted necropsy samples from two ducks recovered from Constitution Gardens for testing and cannot comment on the cause of those deaths until results are received. We are also unable to comment on the cause of the duckling death reported at the Reflecting Pool because, to our knowledge, no carcass was recovered for examination,” the organization said in an email to WUSA.

The organization notes that the cause of death may not have anything to do with the recent Reflecting Pool renovations.

“While the loss of ducklings is always upsetting, many people are surprised to learn that in urban environments the leading cause of duckling mortality is predation by other wildlife, including crows and hawks. Ducklings may also die from injuries sustained while attempting to follow their mother from elevated nesting sites, or from drowning if they are unable to safely exit the water.”

Watch above via MS NOW’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki.

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