[…]Heermann’s Gulls, who often forage and hunt with Brown Pelicans. These birds are being doused in fish waste as they forage for scraps beneath the outflow of these polluting pipes. Fish waste and fish oil disrupt the feather structure that allows a seabird to remain dry and warm when entering the cold waters of the North Pacific. Without rescue they die. Multiple incidents of such contaminations have been documented with photographs and video by Bird Ally X rescue crews in Crescent City and Shelter Cove. California Department of Fish and Game code 5650 (a)(6) specifically states that it is […]
[…]be composted wherever possible. Many studies were completed on the feasability of composting fishwaste on small and large scales in the late 1980s, primarily as a way to eliminate the unsightly and malodorous nature of fish carcasses. These studies had very favorable findings. (here is one example) BAX and Humboldt Wildlife Care Center will soon meet with the Board Of Commissioners of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District to discuss ways to make the fillet table at Shelter Cove bird-safe. Fillet tables are well-used and appreciated. Often they provide a place for sport fishers to meet and share […]
[…]x 17″ At-a-glance information on keeping wildlife safe from the deleterious effects of the oily waste that comes from cleaning catch. Educational poster suitable for Marinas, Boat Launches, Fishing Docks, wildlife rehabilitation centers and other places. Designed by BAX and made possible by a grant from the Kure Stuyvesant Trust and support from the USFWS and California DFW. This poster is available for FREE while supplies last, plus shipping & handling. Available as a paper or all-weather vinyl poster. Free (plus $3.99 shipping & handling. Please note PayPal will charge $0.01 + […]
[…]of the most stupid and ordinary things in the world – a barrel of society’s petroleum waste. Thanks to you this bat had a place to go when in a bad situation. Imagine the initial surprise the people at Humboldt Waste Management Authority felt when first discovering him in the bucket of oily rags. If not for you, they would have had no recourse. Everyday, your support makes that difference. Thank you! all photos: Bird Ally […]
[…]The cleaning station is an open table with a center trough that takes the fish waste into a grinder where it is processed and ejected into the ocean. Approximately 20 fish carcasses were laying on the table – no one was present. We captured the 4 pelicans and 1 gull before dark and brought them back to the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center (HWCC). As we caught these birds, by telephone, I was live on the local radio station, KMUD, describing what we were doing and seeing. The program host, Barbara Schultz said that the community of Shelter Cove would […]
[…]City and discovered at least 2 dozen juvenile Brown Pelicans heavily contaminated. Large bins of fish-waste at a local cleaning station were open to the young, inexperienced birds, eager for an easily gotten meal. It takes experience and maturity to get your living from the cold waters of the North Pacific and these birds, fresh from the nest, rely on bays and sheltered coves as training ground for a life at sea. Used to being fed by their parents, it is an easy switch to scavenging and begging. Securing the fish-waste bins was the first step toward solving the problem. […]
[…]fish beneath the sky expose their dreams to fly. The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), the Fish hawk, an easily observed raptor who plunge-dives feet first from the sky to catch fish, lifting themselves and their prey straight back into the sky. A familiar sight: one of these large, long-winged birds carrying a trout or a perch, or any other of the over 80 species of fish that make up nearly all of their diet.(1) We don’t often see these birds in care. When we do, often we are only able to help them out of this world due to the severity […]