Message-ID: <34E0FEB5.147A at televar.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 17:28:21 -0800
From: Jerry Converse <sanjer at televar.com>
Organization: R/C COMPOSITES <http://homepage.usr.com/c/composites>
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To: dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu
Subject: Re: Bald Eagles - the shyest of birds?
References: <2.2.16.19980210145319.2c5ff418 at wsunix.wsu.edu>
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I didn't realize my comment would be taken so seriously. I will be more
careful in the future.

Jerry Converse

Deb Beutler wrote:
>
> >Mike Patterson wrote:
> ><snip>
> > Here on the Lower
> >> Columbia River, the productivity is half what it is elsewhere in its range.
> >> DDE, PCB's, mercury, lead and cadnium are still found at high level in
> >> resident birds.
> >
> (snip
> >Golly--Gee, I thought Nuclear Energy was the safest thing around and
> >that it didn't leach into the Columbia river?????
> >
>
> My, my jumping to conclusions are we?
> Hanford isn't the only polluters that drain into the Columbia. DDE
> and PCB probably aren't a by-product of Hanford. I'm not sure about the
> heavy metals but I doubt they are only from Hanford. Don't forget the
> Silver Valley of Idaho is upstream from the Lower Columbia (its all connected).
> There could be any number of explanations as to why productivity is
> lower on the Lower Columbia than other places. One that leaps to mind is
> slackwater. The Columbia and the Snake both have been changed from raging
> rivers to slackwater pools. As the salmon and trout have decreased, the
> fishing becomes tougher and eagle productivity goes down.
> Lower productivity could also be due to heavy human disturbance on
> the Lower Columbia.
> The problem might be on the wintering grounds not the breeding
> grounds. I don't know where the Baldies on the Lower Columbia winter but it
> might be very contaminated with heavy metals, DDE, and PCB's.
> It could also be that the Lower Columbia is just a bad place for
> bald eagles to produce young and always has been. It would be interesting
> to compare current productivity on the Lower Columbia to productivity on the
> Lower Columbia in other time periods (before slackwater, after the start of
> slackwater, etc.). Comparing the Lower Columbia to other places in its
> range introduces other confounding factors (different predators, different
> prey, etc.)
> Clearly, the high levels of DDE are worrisome. DDT (the precursor
> to DDE) is well known to cause nesting problems. However, I don't know if
> anyone has studied the effects of the other pollutants on nesting baldies.
> This is by no means an endorsement of nuclear power. Just a word of
> caution.
>
> Deb Beutler
> Department of Zoology
> P.O. Box 644236
> Washington State Univerisity
> Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
> dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu