When I was a journalism student in California in 1972 I wrote an article on the negative effect lead sinkers and lead shot were having upon wildlife nation wide. There was talk at the time of outlawing both uses. Yet here we are 5 decades later and both still remain a problem in many areas of the country. Wildlife rehabilitators at Avian Haven here in Maine have struggled repeatedly to save bald eagles suffering from lead poisoning only to have to stand helplessly by as the birds suffered an agonizing death. If you will pardon the pun it's past time for us to get the lead out and get the lead out! I was sorry to hear of the loss of two juvenile common loons on Long Pond. But I agree with Mr. Helprin when he says that predation is just part and parcel of nature. Bald eagles have been accused of "bad moral character" ever since Benjamin Franklin objected to them being declared the national bird. Over the course of the four decades that I've been involved with Maine's Bald Eagles I've fielded dozens of complaints regarding eagles preying upon various wildlife species. Time and again I have explained to folks that, as Mr. Helprin correctly points out, eagles are just playing their part in the overall predator/prey balance of nature.
Loons have no gizzards. They ingest pebbles to clear their stomachs and cannot distinguish between small stones and millions of lead sinkers left by generations of fishers at the bottom of millions of lakes and ponds.
Precisely true. Eagles, on the other hand, are primarily exposed to lead pellets when they ingest ducks and other wildlife that have been killed or wounded by hunters. Lead is extremely toxic and death by lead poisoning is an agonizing way to go! Avian Haven ran a video some time ago of an eagle dying from lead poisoning and it was horrific! Young eagles whose nervous system has been damaged by lead poisoning also sometimes collide with power lines and other difficult to see objects. No doubt whatever, it's long past time for us to get the lead out when it comes to outlawing the use of lead pellets, bullets, and sinkers!
I swim in Echo Lake in the summer, parallel to the shore, since I am in my eighties. Halfway between Ike's Point and the cliffs, two summers ago, a family of loons, Dad, Mom and 2 juniors, started following me quite closely. I slowed down and backstroked so I could see them. This continued for about 10 min, while the Mom dove for minnows. I now understand they were using me for cover. Best experience of my life. Barbara Heldt
Another loon hazard to the long pond area is the stand up paddle board invasion of tourists taken there by the SUP Bar Harbor company during the spring/summer to the southern neck / long pond fire road nesting area.
Way back in the 1960s when my generation was pioneering the return to nature lifestyle in America many of us worried that the new fascination with the outdoors would lead to Americans loving nature to death. Sadly that has far too often proven to be true. Having founded the first sea kayaking tour company in Maine in the late 1970s I can remember paddling thousands of miles a year without ever seeing another sea kayak. When I got my first Maine Guide License the examiner asked, "So what are you going to do with your license?" When I replied, "Open a sea kayaking guide service in Bar Harbor." he roared with laughter. "You'll never get people on the ocean in those little boats." he exclaimed. Alas today you can hardly travel a mile on the waters of MDI without seeing dozens of kayaks and sadly they often unwittingly harm wildlife. I had an article published in "Sea Kayaker Magazine" in the 1980s entitled "Small Boat Impact" that detailed the many apparently harmless activities of sea kayaks and other watercraft that harm wildlife. The article was subsequently used by the National Outdoor Leadership School for preparing a set of boater's guidelines for National Parks. I also provided a set of those guidelines to Acadia National Park biologists. Loons in particular are easily disturbed by watercraft as they build raft nests right along the shoreline. They sometimes make their displeasure known with vocalizations and flapping wildly about. But sometimes there is little visual sign of the anxiety caused by overcurious paddlers and boaters. Those who truly love wildlife keep a respectful distance from loons and other wildlife to avoid disturbing them. "Isn't that tiny loon chick cute!" can often lead to that tiny cute chick being harmed.
When I was a journalism student in California in 1972 I wrote an article on the negative effect lead sinkers and lead shot were having upon wildlife nation wide. There was talk at the time of outlawing both uses. Yet here we are 5 decades later and both still remain a problem in many areas of the country. Wildlife rehabilitators at Avian Haven here in Maine have struggled repeatedly to save bald eagles suffering from lead poisoning only to have to stand helplessly by as the birds suffered an agonizing death. If you will pardon the pun it's past time for us to get the lead out and get the lead out! I was sorry to hear of the loss of two juvenile common loons on Long Pond. But I agree with Mr. Helprin when he says that predation is just part and parcel of nature. Bald eagles have been accused of "bad moral character" ever since Benjamin Franklin objected to them being declared the national bird. Over the course of the four decades that I've been involved with Maine's Bald Eagles I've fielded dozens of complaints regarding eagles preying upon various wildlife species. Time and again I have explained to folks that, as Mr. Helprin correctly points out, eagles are just playing their part in the overall predator/prey balance of nature.
Loons have no gizzards. They ingest pebbles to clear their stomachs and cannot distinguish between small stones and millions of lead sinkers left by generations of fishers at the bottom of millions of lakes and ponds.
Precisely true. Eagles, on the other hand, are primarily exposed to lead pellets when they ingest ducks and other wildlife that have been killed or wounded by hunters. Lead is extremely toxic and death by lead poisoning is an agonizing way to go! Avian Haven ran a video some time ago of an eagle dying from lead poisoning and it was horrific! Young eagles whose nervous system has been damaged by lead poisoning also sometimes collide with power lines and other difficult to see objects. No doubt whatever, it's long past time for us to get the lead out when it comes to outlawing the use of lead pellets, bullets, and sinkers!
I swim in Echo Lake in the summer, parallel to the shore, since I am in my eighties. Halfway between Ike's Point and the cliffs, two summers ago, a family of loons, Dad, Mom and 2 juniors, started following me quite closely. I slowed down and backstroked so I could see them. This continued for about 10 min, while the Mom dove for minnows. I now understand they were using me for cover. Best experience of my life. Barbara Heldt
Another loon hazard to the long pond area is the stand up paddle board invasion of tourists taken there by the SUP Bar Harbor company during the spring/summer to the southern neck / long pond fire road nesting area.
Way back in the 1960s when my generation was pioneering the return to nature lifestyle in America many of us worried that the new fascination with the outdoors would lead to Americans loving nature to death. Sadly that has far too often proven to be true. Having founded the first sea kayaking tour company in Maine in the late 1970s I can remember paddling thousands of miles a year without ever seeing another sea kayak. When I got my first Maine Guide License the examiner asked, "So what are you going to do with your license?" When I replied, "Open a sea kayaking guide service in Bar Harbor." he roared with laughter. "You'll never get people on the ocean in those little boats." he exclaimed. Alas today you can hardly travel a mile on the waters of MDI without seeing dozens of kayaks and sadly they often unwittingly harm wildlife. I had an article published in "Sea Kayaker Magazine" in the 1980s entitled "Small Boat Impact" that detailed the many apparently harmless activities of sea kayaks and other watercraft that harm wildlife. The article was subsequently used by the National Outdoor Leadership School for preparing a set of boater's guidelines for National Parks. I also provided a set of those guidelines to Acadia National Park biologists. Loons in particular are easily disturbed by watercraft as they build raft nests right along the shoreline. They sometimes make their displeasure known with vocalizations and flapping wildly about. But sometimes there is little visual sign of the anxiety caused by overcurious paddlers and boaters. Those who truly love wildlife keep a respectful distance from loons and other wildlife to avoid disturbing them. "Isn't that tiny loon chick cute!" can often lead to that tiny cute chick being harmed.