There is a remote lagoon over near the Washington side, formed by a large arc of dredge spoils, that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has posted as "off limits" to entry. Off limits ... to me in my paddle craft, to a person on a PWC, to a deck hand on a tug boat, to an able-bodied seaman on a freighter, to a duck hunter in a skiff. Everybody. The lagoon is a unique environment on the Columbia River. It is sheltered, shallow, sometimes even warm in winter when gales howl around it. It is headed by a stand of cottonwoods, usually adorned with a handful of eagles, eying the abundant waterfowl in the lagoon. The waterfowl are resting, usually, but sometimes feeding on vegetation. They are a sight to see. I paddled through there twice. Scared hell out of the birds. Did not matter that I wasn't noisy or polluting. Just scared the hell out of the birds. There is a solid rationale for this sanctuary. The birds are enroute somewhere, and need a quiet place to rest and recuperate. We are out of place there. Heard the posting as "off limits" is probably not supportable in a court of law -- because the Columbia is a "navigable waterway," and maritime rights have greater standing in our courts than the "rights" of waterfowl to peace and quiet. That's why I paddled through there the first time, because I had the "right" to do it, and I wanted to see the birds. The second time I did it because I wanted to see the birds again. But, I can't make myself paddle through there any more ... because I scare hell out of the birds. Sometimes a PWC, running hot across my bow, scares hell out of me, but that's probably not enough to justify banning the damn things from my home waters. I agree with those who say we need to be careful in how we push for "regulation" of any craft. IIRC, the ban on launching PWC's from ramps in the San Juans (Puget Sound, WA) eventually survived legal challenges. Anybody know what the legal grounds were for the ban? The waters around the San Juans are "navigable," and I wonder what legal rationale might have been strong enough to keep them from being launched. Note: I'm not sure their operation on the water is banned. Could be it is only the launching from the shores of the islands that is banned ... hmmm ... might that happen to us, if we become annoying enough to folks in the San Juans? -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hi, I am sure that most of us are well aware of the fact that also kayakers are under certain circumstances disturbing to wildlife. We don't spill oil and we are also not noisy. We had a discussion about whales and seals a few weeks ago. But not only these creatures are sometimes scared or disturbed by recreational of prof. boat traffic, including paddlers. Last spring we had a number of talks about seabirds in one of the naturalist groups here in Halifax. One was about terns. A big issue here in Nova Scotia, since individuals and groups are very active and partly successful in rehabilitating and protecting tern nesting sites. The talk was presented by a wildlife biologist. After the talk in the discussion the question was asked how recreational water sport affects terns. First, everyone and everything getting to close to a tern nesting colony on a island is disturbing. The bird leave their nests, and eggs and/or chicks become exposed to predation by gulls and other predators. Or if disturbance is to frequent the island is abandoned by the terns and the nesting colony is gone. What is to close? Depends, if terns circling you, you are way to close. If the leave their nests and get airborne you are to close. The distance varies, and according to the biologist kayaks and canoes are more concerning for terns than powerboats or jet skies (measured by distances to colony triggering take off). A possible explanation was that the flashing of the paddle blades is the alarming signal for the terns. Similar effects are likely to other nesting or resting birds (eider rafts, shorebird accumulations). I remember an article were a guy was chased by a loon because the white paddle blades were taken as a intruder to his territory. I was positively surprised when I went to Mahone Bay last summer and found at the put in of the local outfitter large signs telling their customers and other paddlers using their dock about tern colonies in the Bay and asking people to keep a minimum distance of 200m from the nesting island during the nesting season (easy to identify for everyone by the lighthouse). That's the way to go, inform and educate people. Telling them why they should or shouldn't do things is better than simply putting up bans. cheers Ulli (All spelling errors are intentional and are there to show new and improved ways of spelling old words.) Dr. Ulli Hoeger Dept. Physiology and Biophysics Dalhousie University Halifax, B3H4H7, Nova Scotia Canada Phone I : 902-494-2673 Fax: 902-494-1685 Phone II :902-488-6796 http://is.dal.ca/~uhoeger *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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