Lauren Chambliss: Fishing Tackle Kills Loons→

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All About Birds:

Roberta Olenick

“Loons still face many threats today, including the lead commonly used in fishing tackle. Decades after the U.S. government began regulating lead out of our environment through lead bans in gasoline, household paint, and the shotgun ammunition used for hunting waterfowl, the poisonous soft metal is still being directly introduced into lakes and waters via fishing tackle. In the contiguous U.S., lead is a leading cause of death in the Common Loon. And now for the first time, researchers in New Hampshire have discovered a much worse population-level impact than previously suspected.”

In Minnesota, an estimated 100 to 200 loons die each year from lead poisoning. 

Michael Casey: Loons Poisoned by Lead→

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Associated Press:

“More than year after New Hampshire passed one of the nation’s toughest bans on using lead fishing tackle, loons are still dying from ingesting fishing weights and lures.

The 2016 law prohibits the sale and use of lead tackle in the state as part of an effort to revive the state’s loon population. But Loon Preservation Committee senior biologist Harry Vogel says eight loons have died this year from lead poisoning, up from two last year.

”The day this law was passed, we knew we would continue to see lead-poisoned loons,” Vogel said. “As long as Grandpa’s old tackle box is in the dusty corner of the garage, some people will just put lead tackle on the line and continue to fish. The hope is that it will become less and less common over time.””

From necropsy studies, I've estimated that between 100 and 200 Minnesota loons die each year due to lead poisoning.

Michael Swearingen: BP Settlement for Minnesota's Loons→

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MPR:

“Minnesota loons could benefit from an $18.7 billion legal settlement over the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a Department of Natural Resources official said Wednesday.

Minnesota could receive up to $25 million over the next 15 years from the settlement between oil company BP and the federal government, Carrol Henderson, the department’s nongame wildlife supervisor, told MPR News.

Scientists have conducted a large amount of research documenting the effects of the April 2010 oil spill on wildlife, and the settlement might not have been reached without that research, Henderson said.

”Loons and pelicans were actually in the gulf in April when the oil spill first occurred,” he said. “My recollection is that there was just shy of 200 loons that were found dead in the oil.””

Ecological Principle: Many Things are Connected to Other Things.