Life has come full circle for America's symbol of freedom in the northern Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. On April 12, the first bald eagle chick born on the islands in more than half a century carefully pecked away its shell and became an instant star.
Biologists watching the birth via remote video broke into applause and cheers. "I feel like a grandfather!" said David Garcelon, president of the Institute for Wildlife Studies. "I've been waiting 30 years for this day."
The historic hatching on Santa Cruz Island marked a milestone in The Nature Conservancy's multi-partner program to restore the biological richness of the island for future generations.
Restoring a Keystone Species
Bald eagles disappeared from the Channel Islands in the mid 1900s, causalities of the now banned pesticide DDT, which chemical companies dumped into the ocean through the Los Angeles sewer system.
Scientists have tried for more than 20 years to re-establish the birds on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. But the lingering effects of DDT have made the birds' eggshells too thin to hatch without human intervention.
In 2002, the National Park Service launched an effort to re-establish bald eagles on Santa Cruz Island, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, off the coast of Santa Barbara. Each year, 12 eight-week-old chicks are transferred from the San Francisco Zoo or their birthplace in Alaska and introduced to their new island home. Scientists expect the first batch of Santa Cruz Island bald eagles to begin nesting as early as this year.
The April 12 hatching occurred during the program's fifth and final year. The chick's parents were born in captivity and raised on Catalina, but they flew to Santa Cruz Island as a pair and established their first nest this winter.
__________________________________________________
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy by joining our group on Gather.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 23
Glad you're back from Ecuador, and I'm always glad to see any small piece of hopeful environmental news out there in the world. Sometimes I see the world as being divided between those who are actively creating a new future, putting a positive spin into everything and those who are actively destroying it, or implicitly destroying it simply by trying to maintain the status quo. I guess it's an overly simplistic view, but I appreciate your bringing us this story.
I'm much more familiar with the nasty effects of DDT and its bioaccumulation from species to species in an ecosystem. I'm personally thankful to see that animals can (and do!) recover from exposure to it!
They are magnificent birds.
Jonathan - isn't that baby Eagle adorable - and
so
sacred...
very much so - that's a sign...yes, it is.
These are also the guidelines for U.S. troops in Iraq, where DDT use could prevent the transmission of Leishmaniasis from sand flies, a terrible disease that has already afflicted 170 soldiers.