Bald Eagles Make a Comeback

Last weekend, I went to visit friends in Virginia’s Northern Neck on the Rappahannock River. When I was only a few miles from the water, I saw a huge Bald Eagle sitting in a field only 15 feet away from my car.

A sighting like this is still unusual, but it struck me just how unlikely it would have been when I was a kid. At 10, Bald Eagle sightings were an anomaly even in the country, so much so that everyone would run outside to look if someone suggested that the far-away black dot could be an eagle. Thinking of this, I realized that only in the last few years I had begun to see more and more of these birds. So why the turn-around?

Let’s start with a bit of history:

In the early 1900s, there were about 300,000-500,000 Bald Eagles in the continental United States. By the 1950s, the population had dropped to only 412 nesting pairs thanks to habitat loss, hunting, and DDT.

An effective pesticide, DDT was toxic to many animals and stayed in the environment for years without biodegrading. As this substance made its way up the food chain, predators such as Bald Eagles developed high concentrations of DDT in their bodies after eating several smaller animals that had ingested it. The pesticide either sterilized the birds or caused them to lay eggs with weak shells that broke easily and often did not hatch.

The U.S. government responded by banning eagle hunting in 1940 as well as the use of DDT in 1972. Because of these protections, the Bald Eagle population rebounded. By 1992, the population had increased to about 110,000-115,000 individuals. The government transferred Bald Eagles from the Endangered Species List to the List of Threatened Wildlife in 1995, then de-listed the species completely in 2007.

Now, the Bald Eagle population in the Chesapeake Bay area is nearing saturation. This means that almost all of the available habitat has been occupied. Territorial conflicts and combat wounds will increase as the number of eagles exceeds the available space. Eventually, the population will naturally balance itself through competition.

The Center for Conservation Biology, a research group within William and Mary and VCU, is studying the behavioral interactions between nesting Bald Eagles and intruders. The group set up 17 nest cams to watch Bald Eagle pairs along the James River. James and Virginia, the Richmond pair under surveillance, have two eggs and can be viewed via a live feed. Also, I have embedded a video of the Richmond eagles at the bottom of this entry. To find out more about the project, click here.

This was a great success story for wildlife. If the government can pass laws protecting Bald Eagles from localized extinction in the United States, then it can do the same for other species.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you’re doing to help the environment in the comments section.

Maui’s Dolphins Need Our Help

A few days ago, a Maui’s dolphin was killed in a fishing net off the coast of New Zealand. Sadly, dolphin drownings are fairly common in many parts of the world as a byproduct of fishing practices dangerous to wildlife. But what makes this news especially tragic is that the Maui’s species is critically endangered and on the brink of extinction.

In July 2011, a study of genetic samples showed that the Maui’s dolphin population had dropped to about 100 or fewer individuals. When the numbers get this low, every dolphin is precious from a genetic standpoint. Decreased diversity in the gene pool means that the animals may become less resilient to climate change, pollution, and habitat loss due to development and seabed mining. The dolphins are also less able to survive disease, which would destroy the species at this point.

Maui's Dolphin (Photo taken from scoop.co.nz)

The smallest and rarest marine dolphin, Maui’s dolphins are a subspecies of the endangered Hector’s dolphins. About 7,000 Hector’s dolphins exist now compared to 26,000 in the 1970s. Hector’s dolphins are only found in the coastal waters of New Zealand’s South Island, while Maui’s dolphins are only found off the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Maui’s dolphins stay very close to the shore, which puts them at a greater risk of getting tangled in fishing nets. Their slow breeding cycle doesn’t help either. Females breed at around 7-9 years old, then wait until each calf is fully independent before breeding again. Calves mature in about 2-3 years, meaning that a female may only have four calves in her lifetime. The small growth rate of 2% means that at the most, a population of 100 Maui’s would increase to only 102 in a single year.

The dolphins breed barely fast enough to replace the numbers that die by drowning in fishing nets. An estimated 110-150 Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins drown in fishing nets each year. That’s why the population is stagnant or dwindling.

In 2008, the New Zealand government banned set nets in certain areas along the western coastline. Even so, more protections are needed. The recent Maui’s dolphin death occurred in an area outside of the current restrictions.

Bottom line:  The set nets and trawling nets need to go.

To save the Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins, WWF-New Zealand is urging the government to increase regulations of net fishing and trawling as well as extend the current ban into harbors and further along the coastline. The organization is also working with communities and schools to educate them about sustainability, focusing on marine life and especially the Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins. In order to know more about the dolphins’ range, anyone who sees a Maui’s dolphin is asked to report it to 0800 4 MAUIS, a special sightings hotline.

So what can you do?

Please sign this petition from Change.org to save the Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins. (Last checked, 3,000 more signatures are needed to reach the goal of 7,500).

Visit the WWF-New Zealand “Stop Their Extinction” campaign page to learn more about the issue and the dolphins. You can also use this site to adopt a dolphin or send an e-card to your friends to let them know what’s going on.

Thanks for reading! Also, I’d love to know what you’re doing to help the environment and save wildlife. Please let me know in the comments section!